


Sea Foam

by MelanieAreia



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:16:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelanieAreia/pseuds/MelanieAreia
Summary: When following a false lead to the shoreline proves to be fatal, and his butler subdued to provide his defense Ciel Phantomhive finds himself lured from the scene of the crime. He couldn't recall anything upon waking up hours later with sand in unmentionable place and his throat raw from inevitably swallowing sea water.The night remains a mystery, and ponders the young Earl's mind. Though as weeks follow He begans to believe the song that haunted his thoughts was nothing more than his imagination. Simply an illusion, considering they had traveled a long distance that day he had only been tired nothing more and nothing less.That is until Finnian, the Phantomhive Gardner, finds a woman swimming in the garden fountain. This foreign woman and her riddle like speech leaves the occupants of the Phantomhive estate in awe, but they aren't the only ones left in a state of schock upon meeting her.
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

In the history of humanity, there would always be one constant that remained, one thing that could not be wiped from the most primal part of the human mind no matter how hard they were to try to remove it. That constant being fear, humans were creatures filled with emotion. It was a controlling thing that in times when it became unbearable humans found themselves doing the most horrible and wretched things ever imaginable to those around them. They became beings hellbent on their own survival. 

She had been groomed to believe that her fate was inevitable. She was brought into this world and from the day she was first greeted by the cold and unloving world she was convinced that her sacrifice was an honor to be placed upon her. Adelaide Darrow had always known the day she would die. 

She was born in a Nordic land, a small village by the sea. The sea in which her people were afraid of, their village was ravished mercilessly by the ocean tides and by what they believed were monsters lurking beneath waves. She and all others around her believed in the idea of sacrifice, a human one to be exact, was the only way to appease the beasts and to guarantee their safety throughout to following years. 

It happened every eighteen years, the first girl born in the eighteenth year would be the next. She would be worshipped, pampered, and spoiled because to them she was to be their savior in the times to come. Adelaide had never been afraid, she hadn't the idea of what fear was at the time. If she may have perhaps the idea of what death truly was then maybe fear would have made itself known within her. She did not know death in his reality, she only knew what was told to her to believe. 

Except when everyone appeared to love and adore you, then what was there to fear in this word known as death? She would die on the eve of her eighteenth birthday and never had she second-guessed what it was that was expected of her. That was until the day had come. 

"Oh, what a lovely girl, I'm so proud of you my dear." Her mother had come to prepare her for the day of festivities that awaited them. It was her birthday celebration, but Adelaide could not help but take notice of the unnerved shaking in her mother's hands as she brushed the chocolate brown curls into a curt and tightly bound bun. 

"What will become of me after tonight mother?" She didn't know death. She did not understand that death, was permanent, and so the mother lied to her child. She lied as she had since the day she was born. Such vile words to come, but still the child smiled. That was what she was a child, a mere child innocent to the times to come. 

"They'll take you out on one of the ships, for a bit, and then you shall return and the party will continue on into tomorrow." It would be a party Adelaide would not be a part of. The words hurt her, to deceive your own child. The one thing she had sworn to protect, it was a sin, one that she would never hope to be forgiven for. Adelaide's face brightened as she looked at her mother in the mirror. The innocence was still there upon the young woman's face. Freja found it impossible to share the same look, "Come let us get you dressed."

Her final day was spent in a swirl of illusions, of falsified tales of the impossible. Adelaide spent hours dancing amongst the deceitful except she cared for every last one of them. She ate the finest of foods until she could no longer hold any more. She laughed with people she called friends and told stories of a future that would never be. Her eyes were alive with naivety as each face fell grave once she had passed them by. Then with steps made with grace in a dress made of the finest fabrics, she came to be aboard a fishing boat. 

The boat was shrouded in darkness, no longer surrounded by the warm firelight of the party. Adelaide began to feel an unfamiliar feeling somewhere inside her. No one spoke to her, but the men that were guiding the floating vessel continued to look at her. 

"Everything will be alright my child, I will see you when you return."

Something wasn't right and the further they drifted away from the lights of the village the larger the uneasy feeling began to grow. She was caught by surprise when hands grabbed onto her roughly, pulled away from her place by the ship's railing. The sea had been calm, but now it viciously rocked the ship as she fell backward onto the deck. Then she felt them, the rain. 

"What- let go of me!" She had no chance to regain her stance as hands pinned her against the neck, the quick beating of her heart was foreign to her, "What are you doing?" The storm had appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly the rain was upon them. The heavy drops beating against them and with them, her voice became nothing more against the roaring winds. It was the uncertainty that was the ocean, it was a bipolar mass that could turn on those who sailed its length without as much as a warning. She didn't know what was happening, hands attached to faceless men kept her from freeing herself. 

Something was placed around her ankles, and faintly she caught the sound of metal clinking together through the torrent of rain. Someone was yelling, she could hardly make out what it was that was being said. 

"Quickly throw her in, before we're turned in this storm!" 

She was forced to her feet now, and she learned then what it was that had been tied to her ankles. They had put chains on her, heavy iron chains. 

"Stop it, please let me go!" Her mind was frantic, for the first time in her life Adelaide was afraid. Every step she was forced closer to the edge of the ship. They were going to throw her overboard, "I'm supposed to go home! Mother said-"

"Foolish girl you are a sacrifice, death, in reality, is the means to an end. There will be no returning for you." She could not see the face of who spoke to her, but she would never forget it. This was the voice sentencing her to death, to a fate that she had known but now she was facing the human instinct of fear. 

"But mother-"

"Freja has deceived you, child accept your fate, the sea will be where you meet your end." They had pulled her to stand on the ships rails, below them the wrath of the sea watched, her tears would soon be lost to the beast. 

Then all she felt was air beneath her as the hands released her. Her screams were cut sharply as she broke surface. 

Her first thought was that the water was cold, it was as cold as ice. The second was of the chains that now aided in her quickly sinking beneath the surface, the heavy skirts of her dress did nothing to help her in keeping her afloat. Then fear overtook her, and with futile attempts, she tried to push herself to swim. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to be the sacrifice anymore.

Her life had been nothing, had she been nothing to her mother? For her own mother, the one to bring her into this world to deceive her in such a way, it brought a new emotion she had never felt in such intensity. She was inraged, and then she was choking. Forcing it's way past her lips and with a struggle for air, water began to fill her lungs. Then she heard a voice from within the inky depths around her, 

‘Eygu tíni eru fjar

Sum síggja tey okkurt eingin annar sær

Eg hevði ynskt eg sá við tínum eygum

Tín veruleika'₁

Then it was before her, a being so inhuman with eyes golden as if were the sun illuminating the darkness. She felt her body grow heavier. She was dying. 

'Og sjógvurin tyngist

Alt togar móti dýpinum'₂

And she accepted the fate that awaited her, as lips were pressed against hers.

"Revenge shall be yours, my young siren."


	2. the incompetence of man

The day had started normally, at least as normal as days could be around the manor, still it had been a relatively quiet day until the sealed letter was delivered to the awaiting hands of a butler dressed in black. A pristine white envelope held in gloves hands as it was passed from servant to master, the familiar blood red seal pressed upon it told him all the Lord needed to know of the letters suspected contents without have to break the wax seal of Her Majesty herself. Its arrival was not so much as a surprise if not more so to him just as simple as the way that one would accept an invitation to a seasonal gala. However, this certain letter did not pertain to the existence of the undying urge to show off extravagant wealth of the upper class, although it may have been seen as an invitation it was not for such trivial things that a socialite would thrive upon. No, it was an invitation to what he would call a great honor to be able to receive. 

Carefully the Lord broke the seal from its position, pulling the letter from within and quickly began reading over its message. The Queen was requesting his presence in a fishing port just out past Bristol. 

The trip to Bristol would be two days, three at the most if everything went well regarding horses and weather. That meant he would have no choice but to remain stuck in the carriage with nothing more to do than stare out at the passing scenery. It was dreadfully boring, but it would have to be dealt with. He would have preferred if his tasks could be completed from within his personal study, but as The Queen's Guard Dog, he would have no such luxury in this line of his work. 

"Now I expect that you four will be able to take care of the manor until we get back?" Sebastian questioned, of course there was no doubt in his mind that if not completely destroyed, his master and himself would return from their trip to find the manor in complete disarray. 

Ciel sighed as Sebastian continued futile attempts to make the the four other servants of the Phantomhive Estate to understand the roles they were supposed to be fulfilling still trying his best to make their responsibilities clear while they were gone. The goodbyes were always the same, and they both knew they would return to a mess. Obviously, it would be easily fixed but it was only now a pointless waste of time in asking them repeatedly if they could do their jobs correctly. It wasn't as though that was the sole reason they had been chosen to work for the Earl in the first place.

They had more pressing matters to attend to anyway, and finally Ciel called from his place in the carriage, "Hurry up Sebastian we don't have all day!" 

"We'll keep the Manor nice and clean for the young master, yes we will!" Mey-Rin exclaimed, rather proudly too. Knowing her they would come home to find all the finest china swept under a rug somewhere. 

"You can count on us, this Manor will be ten times cleaner than how you left it." No, it wouldn't if Baldroy brought out the blow torch at any point during their absence. 

"Very well, Tanaka's in charge." Sebastian stayed simply, the older and former butler of Phantomhive offering only a nod in response. Finally the duo were on their way, the sound of hooves and the sight of the wobbling carriage disappeared down the long drive until they could be seen no more. 

======Sea Foam======

The two day ride into Bristol was as uneventful as expected, however, upon arrival, it seemed the city was to be there first order of business as the boy and his butler found their way into the morgue. 

"You have yet to tell me what was in the Queen's letter young master," Sebastian spoke up as he walked behind the young earl.

"There is a fishing village north of Bristol, for the past few months, men who were deemed lost at sea have had their remains wash up on shore. Their bodies remain to appear as though they were merely asleep and nothing more. We're here to collect autopsy reports, and then we will be going to the fishing port tomorrow to look around." Ciel explained as his butler guided them through the early morning crowds. The town they were set to go out to was known as Portishead, previously just a simple fishing port with no type of issues surrounding it. This would be the first time anything truly strange had happened there. Portishead was far to small in both population and size to house their own dead, hence their stopping in Bristol for the time being. 

Eventually they found themselves where they needed to be, as they usually did.

======Sea Foam======

"They gave me quite a bit of trouble truly, I never seen anything like it in all my years." Doctor Harrison Morton, the man who had done any previous studies of the bodies the duo had come to inspect, spoke. His age was clear in the wrinkles lining his brow and the wisps of silver hair that remained on his head. The air in the small office was heavily permeated by the stale scent of liquor. It seemed also with age that the care for one's particular profession began to dwindle into nothing. Still for a man who had clearly been drinking the Doctor was still managing to hold himself well enough. 

"These men then still appear as alive as they did on the last day they were seen?" Ciel inquired, handing off the file folder to Sebastian who took it readily and began to look over it himself. 

"Oh yes, they very much did. That was until we drained the water from their lungs and suddenly they were shriveling up like a flower." The boy had never heard of such an occurrence happening before, but the doctor had said the same thing and he obviously had spent more time doing these sorts of things than he had. Albeit with the explanation just given, it may have opened up the reason the Queen would feel it necessary to send for him. There would be no other reason to do so, considering a few drowned fishermen weren't generally such a cause for concern. A drunk man falling overboard wasn't something entirely unheard of. 

"All these men seem to originate from the same company, perhaps a rival company is at fault?" Sebastian questioned as he placed the file on the doctor's desk. All those listed dead all worked for the same company, if not having at least worked on the same boat as each other. It was the obvious suspect to be, but to be frank human's were prone to overlook the obvious case in these situations. 

"They've already tried that one, there's no evidence to indicate that anyone is at fault. There's no evidence either to say if they were even murdered. The Yard's just as ready to say that it makes more sense to say they simply walked off the boat and drowned. Ain't much of a reason to investigate if their ain't nobody to catch." 

"The only problem being that none appear to be showing signs of a corpse that had been sitting in the water for weeks at a time," It could be so that someone had kidnapped these men, and in a very ill attempt to dispose of the bodies tried to pretend that they had merely drowned. Except when none of the bodies match that of a drowned man then it was really just a murder case ready to be solved.

"I've inspected enough floaters to know what they should look like, these men look nothing of the sort." Morton mumbled as he took a drink of a flask he didn't think anyone could see, perhaps he was to drunk already.

"Thank you for the information doctor, you have been quite helpful," Ciel sighed as he stood up, clearly they wouldn't be getting any further helpful information from the man, if what he was really told was in anyway useful. It surely wouldn't have been that hard to learn these things on his own, would have saved him the time of having to enter a drunkards office. 

"There are stories, however, that something lurks beneath the water." Dr. Morton slurred before the Earl could leave his office, Sebastian's grip on the door handle was tight as he stood waiting for his master to leave so he could follow. 

"I assure you, doctor, I do not have time for fairytales." Ciel assured the older man without turning around.

"That's not to say that they cannot be true. There are many things in this world that the human mind believes should not exist. Who's to say sea monsters cannot be one of those." Morton speculated, presently unaware of the red eyes yearning to kill him. 

"Good day Doctor." Sebastian retorted, and with it, the Earl and his butler were gone. What a sad thing to do, to leave a lonely drunk man with his own thoughts.

There was an undeniable truth when it came to the wandering minds of humanity. It could be said that it was often enough an occurrence, in that they spent too much time thinking. Too much time wasted on believing. It came with the fact that with its immeasurable and unknown depths that came the idea. The idea that there was more beneath the waves than what meets the eye. So to some, it made sense that there was a possibility that a life, almost imitating that of humanity could linger within the sea and they were none the wiser in only myths. However, it remained that the idea of sea monsters was more so left as such left to bounce around in the minds of children. 

It was a child's ability to imagine that made the idea of them so plausible. Then it was only time that made the idea become one of childish fantasies. Ciel did not believe in sea monsters. Though he knew there was something more at play than mere drowning, the idea of creatures lurking in the water was not on the top of his suspects. Albeit what the doctor had said yesterday still lingered within his thoughts. In the farthest reaches of them of course. There were things in this world and in others that to the minds of humans should remain as only something in the ability to believe in them. Things that should never have been able to manifest themselves into a physical form. The butler of the Phantomhive's was a demon, of course, he knew this. Yet the thought still remained that any talk of sea monsters couldn't be true. 

"What do you know about sea monsters, Sebastian?" Ciel asked his butler that evening, after finding lodgings for the night in Bristol the young Earl had found the doctors words stuck in his head. They had plans to set out again for Portishead early in the morning, before the boats left for the day. They needed to get out on the water themselves because even if he held his own doubts a part of him knew he couldn't leave out any possible reasons for these deaths. 

"I can't say I'm particularly knowledgeable of anything that may live in the sea, but surely you can't push everything off as a myth Master. Considering myself."

"Mermaids are a different level of myth than demons." The boy retorted, refusing to look at the butler as he laid in bed. 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that My Lord," Sebastian finished the conversation after that as he left the young Earl to rest for the night. Sebastian had already had his own suspicions of what the cause of these deaths could be, but Ciel had neither asked nor showed any signs of asking Sebastian to do any investigating, so he would remain quiet for now.


	3. there’s something in the water

The ports of Portishead, unlike its town streets, were bustling with early morning life with men preparing for their endless day at sea. Each thriving to bring what bit they could to the families that awaited them at home. Ciel despite the scene and the laughter that ran through the docks could not miss a tenseness in the air. It would seem that these deaths were causing something to be stirred within the everyday working man. 

"Sebastian, find us a boat to board and make it quick," Ciel demanded of his butler per usual, it was no surprise for him to say things the way he did. 

"Of course my lord." Sebastian complied, offering only a small bow before disappearing from his master's side.

Sebastian had not taken long, a bit of convincing of course nothing to difficult of the devilish man,the young Earl and his butler were set to join a small fishing crew on their daily outing to the sea. Sebastian, as had been asked of him shortly after boarding, began asking crew members of the strange deaths of the men. It was upon asking one of the older men aboard that any type of answers were able to be given. Albeit one the Earl would not take kindly to listening to. 

"Ever heard of a siren?" The man glared harshly, perhaps from countless years working under the sun, or perhaps just an endless irritation at the world that wouldn't go away.

"I've heard stories yes, but surely that's all they are ?" Sebastian countered, whatever this human man believed he knew had to be another one of the many mortal myths, ones twisted with falsifying statements stories that were far from the truth that they may have held once. 

"No, not here not in Portishead. We wouldn't get through much if we really didn't believe. Ours is very much real, we're all rightfully scared to charge the sea every morning, but half us men don't have any other skills that could provide us any better income. Me? I've been in this for twenty five years and I've seen many more suffer at her hand." It was true no man went out to sea without the smallest of belief in the monsters that lurked in it, but beliefs were no reason to leave when it's the only way of life you may happen to fit into. 

Sebastian spared a glance in Ciel's direction, the boy as expected was standing around disgusted by his surroundings. Obviously the spoiled noble was not enjoying his time spent around the scent of rotting fish. The point however being that he was fine, and despite his doubts about sea monsters, Sebastian had none. He had been honest however in that he himself did not know much about them. Anything that did make its home in the sea tended to stay there and little to nothing was known about them by anyone on the dry side of the world, and up until this point there had been no reason for him to. None of his contracts had ever had a reason for him to, nor had he ever had any interest when he wasn't tied to another human soul. 

"Please do tell me more."

There was the truth that within their beginnings that humans relied greatly on that of the water that covered the world. Though there was also the idea that it was not merely the water that helped humans survive but also by what may have lived within it. These stories surpassed that of mere fishermen lore. Human's beginnings relied on the beings that resided in the water, their true name forgotten to humans through the centuries. 

The people of the sea taught humanity, they coddled them like children until one day the humans learned that they could leave the water behind and create a life only for them. Except, possibly by nature, humans were cruel creatures. To both the world around them and to each other. It is believed that these creatures of the sea sought vengeance, a sort of judgment, against the creatures they had so dearly loved. They would lore the corrupted, the darkened souls into the sea, and drown them. 

The Siren as the people of Portishead had referred to the creatures. Their haunting songs enchanting all of those who had the ear to listen. Sebastian knew of creatures such as this although as he had assumed correctly, the story the old fisherman had told him could not have been further from the truth. In all his time never had he had an encounter with a Siren or any other type of creature in the like. They were rather elusive in the way they worked, but they worked similarly to the same goal. 

Sebastian was brought out of his thoughts of what he had been told by the boat suddenly jerking beneath his feet. His eyes took to the sky, he had not been able to sense the storm that was now fully upon the small vessel. The fishing crew, who had remained relatively calm throughout the trip, were now a chaotic mess as men threw themselves into their posts. In the chaos aboard the ship, it was then that Sebastian realized the storm was not the only thing he could not see. 

Ciel was nowhere to be found.

======Sea Foam======

It wasn't as though he had fallen on purpose, the boat's sudden jostle on the rising waves had caught everyone off guard. Except no one else had fallen overboard because no one else had his luck. So yes perhaps he was standing to close to the edge, his gaze focused on something he was positive he had seen beneath the waters surface. Something gold had glittered between the sea foam, and he may have leaned over to far to try and get a better look at what it was.

The storm had appeared out of nowhere, but this was normal on open waters such as these, for drastic weather changes in just a matter of seconds, but as he felt himself float deeper beneath the darkened sea he realized that this storm was anything but natural. His body was unnaturally heavy but in a futile attempt to break the surface he flailed his arms. He thought for a moment, Where was Sebastian? 

He didn't like the water the surrounded him, nor did he like boats. There had been to many instances now of this that no one should be allowed to get upset with him if he decided to never board another in his life. It was as well seen that he wasn't the strongest swimmer in any way, although when it felt as if something were pulling him beneath the water, something that was most definitely stronger than him there was no way for the young Earl to fight it. 

'Eygu tíni eru fjar

Sum síggja tey okkurt eingin annar sær

Eg hevði ynskt eg sá við tínum eygum

Tín veruleika'₁

His thoughts seemed to be fleeting his useless and weak attempts to swim under the weight of the water becoming less of a priority, as a voice began to sing. A voice that could be heard clearly through the water, it encompassed him. He was sinking deeper and he knew that but something was preventing him from doing anything about it. Did he want to do anything about it? Ciel felt calm, as his body grew heavy, the voice was making him feel nothing. He couldn't think clearly as the singing continued to over take him.

'Aldrin kendist tú

So langt burturi sum nú

Men eg síggi teg

Gjøgnum opini

Millum regndropar'₂

His vision was fading, he couldn't think of anything else. As a hand caressed his face, and with no way to fight it his eye patch was slowly pulled away from its usual resting place, and it was through the darkness of the water he could faintly see the outline of something. No, it appeared more like a someone. Its face grew closer and before the darkness fully overtook the young boy, he could see two glowing pools of gold.

'Einki kann toga meg frá tær nú'₃

======Sea Foam======

"Young master, please do wake up." 

Ciel startled awake, gasping for air only to land in a coughing fit from the rawness of his throat. His whole body ached as he shivered from the cold, and through the darkness only the sound of waves crashing against the shore alerted him to where they were. No part of England was known for good weather, and with autumn slowly ending and winter fast approaching it was only set to get worse. This definitely wouldn't bode well for the Earl's health. 

"What happened?" The Earl was forced to wince as even speaking simply brought a sense of pain to rub against his sore throat, Sebastian only stared back at his master in equal confusion. It had been hours, almost an entire day, since Ciel had fallen into the water. 

"My apologies, I was hoping you would be able to tell me, My Lord. The boat suddenly appeared in a storm, I could not find you nor did you call me." He of course would never lie, as had been a promise from the beginning, Sebastian had truly been unable to locate Phantomhive until only a mere few moments ago which had led the Butler back to shore to find his master alive, but unconscious in the sand. They were lucky it was now late into the night, if anyone were to see the young Earl in such a state he would be rather embarrassed. 

Ciel was confused, as the last thing he could recall was standing on the docks that morning, "I remember nothing of a boat." He croaked, startled when Sebastian abruptly scooped him up out of the sand. The butler stood a moment looking out at the water before turning his head to look at the soaked boy in his arms. 

"Then it seems these are not attacks made by humans, I suggest we return home for the time being. Being exposed to this weather for so long I fear may not be good on your health My Lord." 

"What are you talking about, what are you not telling me!?" Ciel knew something was wrong, but Sebastian himself was still not completely sure if he should allow himself to think the stories true. At least not until he was able to prove it. 

"If what I have been told is true, and if you truly cannot remember how you found your way on this shore than it seems I suggest it be best if you begin to believe in sea monsters Young Master." The butler warned as he began to walk away from the shore line, both servant and master unaware of the golden eyes watching from afar.

Still perhaps it was better if Ciel remained unobservant for the time being, as he had not paid any attention to the set of footprints in the sand leading away from where his body had laid only mere moments ago. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations;
> 
> 1\. Your eyes are distant
> 
> as though they see something no one else sees
> 
> I had wished I could see through your eyes
> 
> your reality (Mjørkaflókar by Eivør) 
> 
> 2\. You never felt
> 
> so far away as you do now
> 
> but I saw you
> 
> through the openings
> 
> between the raindrops (Mjørkaflókar by Eivør)
> 
> 3\. Nothing can pull me away from you (Silvitni by Eivør)


	4. lost in the dark

Pale fingers clawed themselves into the sand accompanied by uncontrollable coughing as the figure of a woman became visible in the dark. Yet she was not alone as held in her arm was that of a young boy, one she did not yet know the name of but still despite their lacking knowledge of each other she still felt inclined to get him somewhere safe. The boy had yet to awaken since he had fallen unconscious, still dressed in the attire of a man of generous wealth, but yet still so young. It had confused her at first on who he was but it had been his eyes that had given him away.

She didn't know where she was, all she knew was that she was freezing, a feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time. The frigid air carried with it the salty scent of the sea and a biting chill ran across her bare skin as she continued to pull herself and the boy further up the beach. Her throat was raw, begging for air her lungs hadn't yearned for in centuries. Any hopes of any cohesive thoughts were quickly dismissed by the pounding in her head.

She struggled until finally, her body collapsed in the sand, her hold on the blue-haired noble loosening until she no longer held him. She didn't want to move to believe that if she were to try and move even the slightest her body would turn into mush.

It was not until she sensed that sinister aura once again that she allowed herself any type of movement. The same sinister aura, the darkness that had shrouded that boat the feeling that overwhelmed her now and had previously attracted her to the fishing boat in the first place. It had lingered on the boy, like a stain that couldn't be washed out no matter how hard one was to scrub away at it. It was getting closer managing enough strength in her newfound limbs to bring herself to hide behind a jutting rock.

Carefully she peered around her hiding spot just in time to see a tall man dressed in black appearing beside the young boy. Something in her was pulling her towards the child, telling her to protect him from the man. She realized then that the darkness was coming from the raven-haired male, the foreboding feeling of evil.

She watched as the boy awoke, suffering from the same desperate need for air just as she had upon breaking the surface of the water. The boy and the evil man began to speak to each other. How could a child find themselves associated with such an evil being? Despite the desire to snatch the boy away from the dark man's clutches, she knew it would only end badly for her. She was still far too weak, studying her newly acquired legs that shook beneath her struggling to hold up her weight. 

She was in no way in a decent enough condition to fight a demon. So, for now, all she could do again was watch shrouded in darkness as the demon carried the child away from the water. The desire, no the need to follow them was growing stronger. She did not miss a glaring red gaze cast towards where she hid, she ducked away quickly but as she waited for something to come she was thankful when nothing did. She shivered in the cold again.

Before she could hope of any means of traveling by land she first had to do something about her lack of clothes, shivering as she took in her naked body.

======Sea Foam======

It was far too late for any traveling, nor would it have had any benefit on Ciel's health it would be better if they were to wait until morning. As soon as they had returned to their lodgings in Bristol Sebastian had taken to drawing his Master a bath. Despite the now late hour, the Earl had not stopped shivering since Sebastian had found him on the beach. He was still unsure of how he had managed to get himself there, he had been rather far from Portishead, in fact, the Earl had found himself far away from any villages or any signs of human life.

Sebastian had merely found him by chance, still unable to locate him even if his master had been unconscious and hadn't called for him. In any life-threatening situation by rules of the contract, Sebastian should have been able to find him and put an end to whatever was threatening the Earl's life. Except as soon as Ciel had disappeared from the boat's deck, there had been absolutely no sign of the boy.

It did not help that with Ciel's retelling of the day had him remembering nothing past the morning they had spent on the docks. There was nothing to really go on in terms of figuring out what happened. They were better off to chalk it up as good luck, despite that not being in the Earl's forte.

"The bath is ready My Lord," Sebastian bowed as he exited the bathroom. Ciel only nodded as he walked past his butler, unaware of the look the man shot towards the window the curtains drawn back to reveal the barren streets of Bristol below them.

  
======Sea Foam======

Acquiring something to wear was not as hard as she had thought it would have been, the feeling of walking on two legs was still foreign to her. So as she hobbled down the street in only a 'borrowed' nightdress she could have easily passed as a drunkard lost in the dark. After a while of stumbling around in the empty streets, she knew she had found what it was she was searching for as the same feeling of evil crept inside of her.

She had no choice now, a rather unfortunate situation, but she would not be able to return home until these matters were finished. If she had known the child was in contract with a demon already then she surely would not have attempted to do what she had. Except there was no way to change what had already been done, so there was no reason to regret any of her actions. She knew what it was she had to do.


	5. she came with flowers in her hair

On a good day, the Phantomhive Manor was left in relative silence. When the servants were able to be left to their own devices and managed to do some part of the jobs they were hired to partake in, then both the lives of both the Earl and his butler were made that much easier in terms of managing daily life. Even if it meant that the servants were for once able to manage themselves for at least a few hours, it left the young Earl to have a bit more time to have his afternoon tea in an enjoyable quiet. Sebastian was off to his own devices creating dinner plans, with Baldroy the infamous chef, such only to the butler continued to complain and question why he wasn't actually allowed to help.

Sebastian had only just left the young master in his study with afternoon tea, and it had been just how he liked it reveling in those sweets that were wickedly delicious. Ciel's thoughts were still focused on what had happened in Portishead which was now having been a week ago, a few days confined to his room and the Earl was back to his usual self. Still, the voice had not left his mind and every night since he would swear that he heard someone singing in the garden, if not for fear of waning sanity he would have already asked Sebastian to investigate it.

Then there was the lack of concern from the butler if there was, in fact, someone else on the property, someone who wasn't supposed to be there Sebastian would have already dealt with it if he had already informed Ciel about the possible intruder. Still, with no memories resurfacing about his sudden appearance on the beach and how he got there, a Ciel had continued to postpone his response to Her Majesty about his discoveries. If what happened could even be considered a discovery, but with his health, at-risk there weren't going to be any more visits to Portishead at least not anytime soon.

In the end, all he received from the butler as an explanation was in the midst of gathering information the ship they had boarded that morning had run into a storm. Ciel had to have slipped and ended up in the water where Sebastian was unable to find him even though their contract was there to keep that from happening but Sebastian was fortunate enough to eventually come upon him unconscious on the beach. If Sebastian hadn't been the one to drag him from the water, then it obviously had to have been someone else, except who? Who would go through the effort to save him but not stay around long enough for him to wake up?

However, to get back to the real events of the present day and as stated before the peaceful early morning hours at the manor were never expected to last throughout the day as they unknowingly dwindled into their last seconds. Until finally an ear-splitting scream made its way through the halls of the manor, startling all other occupants within it.

"Wha-" Ciel presently caught decently surprised dropped the remains of his delicious dessert on the floor. Sebastian down in the kitchens shared a look with Baldroy.

"I believe it best that we do investigate that." The chef only nodded in response, as he followed Sebastian out the servants' entrance to the garden.

The scream led the two, along with the Lord of the house himself his familiar walking stick in hand, along with Mey-Rin and Tanaka emerging from whatever room they had been occupying themselves in, towards the manor garden. It was there that they all witnessed a horrified and teary-eyed Finny running to hide behind the stoic faced butler.

"Finny, what may I ask is happening?" Sebastian questioned, as the designated Gardner continued to shake like a leaf, clutching onto the butler as if his very life depended on it. It was best that in the moment of confusion no one noted that Finnian's strength should have easily crushed the 'human' butler.

"Well I was weeding as you asked me to Mr. Sebastian, but when I got to the fountain you see well-" The young servant trailed off the rest of his words mumbled as he looked at the ground. To Sebastian, despite what may be believed could not hear or make out what the boy was saying.

"Please do speak up Finnian." Sebastian sighed, prying the young man's hands off of him, he indecent he was wrinkling his coat. The butler was beginning to fear that the gardener had broken the garden fountain again, something that he would have to fix behind everyone's back, just another thing to add to the long list of things he had to do around here.

"There's a woman in the fountain there." He finally managed to squeak out, as the other servants shared a look between each other, Sebastian looked to his master who only nodded.

"Then I shall go retrieve this woman," He went to move forward but was stopped abruptly.

"Wait, you can't she's she's..." Finny stuttered, clutching onto Sebastian by the sleeve of his coat.

"She is what?" His eyes narrowed as Finny continued to struggle with the words he was trying to say.

"She's naked!" Eyes widened at the statement, and the butler turned to face the maid. As the only other woman, there was no one else suitable enough to go near a naked woman. Even if this naked woman were of the psychotic manner or not, it would be indecent for Sebastian or any of the other male staff to see such a thing.

"Very well, Mey-Rin will go and get some clothes and she shall fetch her out of the fountain," Sebastian said as he turned to face the woman in question.

The maid nearly fainted at the instructions she was given, of course, she was the only other woman in the manor. It would be of ill taste to have anyone else do it, "I'll go fetch some spare clothes, yes I will!" She exclaimed before she ran off back into the manor.

"Once Mey-Rin gets the woman dressed, bring her inside. Sebastian comes with me."

"Yes, My Lord."

======Sea Foam======

The image that was presented with the statement of a naked woman bathing in the Phantomhive garden unbothered by the possibility of prying eyes was merely that of a mentally ill individual. No sane person would strip naked and proceed to bath in a fountain of all things. Although the woman that was now completely engrossed in a paperweight from the Earl's desk was not what was expected to come out of it. It had taken Mey-Rin an entirety of two hours to get her out of the fountain and an additional thirty minutes to get her to put clothes on.

She clearly did not speak any English, nor did she seem to understand it either. Her hair hung in dark wet ringlets, dripping onto the carpeted floors. Sebastian tried not to let it bother him. She couldn't even sit properly her feet dug into the cushion of the chair as she sat perched in her seat, her knees pushed into her chest. Fortunately, the maid uniform she had been given for the time being was long enough to cover any indecencies.

"Who are you?" Ciel questioned but the words might as well have fallen on deaf ears.

She had yet to truly look up at the young Earl perched behind his desk. So neither he nor his butler had clearly seen the woman's face, however, as she locked her gaze on the Earl it was very clear that she was very not human. Her eyes were burning gold. Something that struck Earl Phantomhive as something eerily familiar.

"Don't you three have jobs you should be doing?" Sebastian questioned, as he looked at the three servants standing near the corner.

"Awe man how come when anything exciting happens we gotta leave?" Baldroy complained, it only took a pointed look on the butler's part to have the three running to get out of the room.

"Kaldur dropi er eyga hjá tær.₁" She spoke, accent heavy, but indistinguishable to the Earl. She had begun to stand from her seat, drawing closer to the young boy.

"Sebastian!"

The woman all but recoiled backward when the butler made a move towards her. It was obvious that she would have very well-liked to have run away but instead found herself hiding behind her chair humming to herself.

"Krákan situr á steini, hakkar í beinið,₂"

"What is she, Sebastian?"

"If I recall correctly, sea monsters are in fact on the list of things you don't believe in despite everything else you have seen recently, My Lord. However, it seems as though a siren has found its way into the manor." Ciel stood from his seat at the mention of this, a siren in his home. There was a part of him that wanted to accuse the demon of deceiving him, but there was no way Sebastian would be able to do that not with the conditions of the contract.

"Aren't they supposed to have tails? And live in the ocean," He inquired as he made his way around his desk and towards the chair, the strange woman had hidden behind.

"There are many stories, a majority purely myth, but some speak of sirens and the like to have legs or at least ways of obtaining them."

"Who are you?" Ciel demanded as he came face to face with the woman. Whatever fear she had been cowering away from disappeared as she saw him. Clearly, something was going to have to be done about her distaste for the butler, it would make this a lot easier if she wasn't cowering away from him.

"They call I Adelaide."


	6. may i introduce miss lady darrow

They weren't entirely sure what to do with her. She clearly wasn't posing any type of immediate threat, but with the limitations of communication, they also didn't know exactly sure why she was here. Ciel had been the one to coax her back into the chair, she remained to be wary of the butler still in the room. 

"Sebastian, go to the kitchen and make something for us to eat," Ciel demanded.

"Of course, My Lord." The butler offered a bow before he disappeared through the door. The blue-haired boy watched as the woman's composure instantly became more relaxed, if his observations were reading correctly she knew who and what Sebastian was. It could be concluded easily if Sebastian could decipher what she was, who was to say she couldn't decipher the same about him?

"Why are you here?" Ciel questioned, Adelaide stared back. Her head tilted to the side as she studied the Earl. 

"I save human, and Adelaide is bound." Her accent was present reminding Ciel of someone he had once run into who claimed to originate from the north. She was referring to something, and it was with her statement that a connection was made within the Earl's thoughts.

"You were the cause of the drowned fishermen?" Despite his lacking belief that something such as mermaids could actually exist. It was almost a foreign concept in terms of having a demon around the manor. His mother had read Elizabeth stories of such creatures when she was at the manor, he having been forced to sit beside his betrothed through such things. He had remained to keep them merely to bedtime stories. Except he couldn't do that now, seeing as a siren sat right across from him. 

"Yes, it was Adelaide, but she did not kill undeserving. You did not deserve." She mumbled picking at the sleeves of the dress Mey-Rin had lent her, she wasn't used to such scratchy fabrics. If she were going to be stuck with these legs however, it seemed she was going to have to learn to get along with them.

If she was the cause of the deaths, and if she were here now that would mean the occurrences in Portishead would come to an end. This also meant that he would be able to send his response to the Queen without feeling as though he had left his job unfinished. Of course, he couldn't tell Her Majesty that the cause of the dead fishermen was, in fact, a mythological creature, he could merely assure her that she would not have to worry about them anymore.

"Why are you here then?" He repeated the question, the conversation was beginning to work away the bit of patience he was ever known to have. She was clearly far away from the place she would call home, there had to be a reason she had followed them all the way here.

"For you." She stated simply, her eyes held something that he couldn't decipher, but he felt as though he had seen such a look before in a different pair. He didn't know by what she meant on why she was here for him, or in what manner of speaking she was referring to him as. Clearly, two words weren't enough to form a conclusion on why she was here. She had been the one to save him from drowning, and despite the fact he wouldn't admit it out loud he could at least thank her for that. So as in the typical fashion of Earl Phantomhive, he asked her to work for him. 

======Sea Foam======

"You will teach Adelaide what she must know to be a maid within the manor, you will also tutor her until she understands completely," Ciel had ordered, "And introduce her to the others." He had waved off on the last be but it had also been only with Ciel's words that Adelaide willingly left with the butler. She still didn't trust him, if she ever would, but she appreciated the simple fact that 'Sebastian' as he was called, did not know the threat she posed to his long-awaited meal.

She grew distracted easily from her fear of the red-eyed man, taking in the extravagantly decorated halls they walked through. She had never been on land before at least not in a way like this. She had never been in houses like this the last time she had ever set foot in the world of humans. The world had changed a lot since she had last seen it, that much was clear to her without her having to leave the water. Her interest in the things around her was what made the walk to the kitchens take that much longer. Adelaide stopped on multiple occasions to stare at her reflection in every mirror possible, presumably there weren't many mirrors in the ocean. It had been a long time since she had seen what she had looked like when she was human, she had almost forgotten completely. They did make it to the kitchen eventually.

The servants of the Phantomhive Manor had found themselves in the kitchen, speaking amongst themselves of the woman that had appeared. Finnian didn't know where she had come from, only that she had scared him immensely when he happened by the fountain in the center of the garden, and her head popped up from the water. Their jobs were forgotten within their gossip, until the sounds of footsteps approaching alerted them. There was left only one other person they could belong to, and all movement froze in the room. 

Sebastian appeared in the open doorway, behind him the mysterious woman ill-fitted in Mey-Rin's clothes her eyes wide as she peered inside the kitchen. She released a gasp of surprise when the butler grabbed her shoulder and moved her in front of him to be in clear view. Adelaide didn't like the feeling that shot through her body when he touched her.

"Everyone this is Adelaide, as of now she will be helping me care for the young master as his valet," Sebastian stated with clear distaste in his voice as he looked down at the small creature. She was smaller than Mey-Rin, leaving the maid uniform she was given to hang loosely from her frame, and she had been walking around barefoot for the entirety of the trip into the kitchens. 

"Isn't a valet typically male?" Mey-Rin spoke up first. 

"Yes well, it is that the young master still wishes her to have the position. Of course like you three she is completely incompetent and I will be training her, so I expect you all can at least manage for half of that time," Sebastian explained. Why must he be stuck with dealing with her? He'd had very much enjoyed it more if the young master had felt more inclined to simply throw her back into the sea rather than take her on as a member of the staff. In fact, he would have gladly gone and thrown her into the Thames if only his master would have asked him to do so. 

Ciel had not told his butler any of what had been spoken about in his absence. It was only over the tea and cakes, which for once had not been meant only for the Earl, that a story of sorts was created to cover for Adelaide's odd behavior. The woman had done none of the talking, taking the smallest of bites of a small cake, and burning her tongue on bitter tea.

"She's from the north, from a reasonably secluded village. She had come to London hoping for work and had happened across the manor. I offered her a place to stay in exchange for her working for me at the manor. The secluded village part can be reason enough to pass off the weird behavior and the lacking knowledge of well developed English." 

"As of tomorrow I will begin her lessons, so in the meantime do try and not burn the manor to the ground," Sebastian went to leave, grabbing Adelaide by her wrist ready to drag her out, but he turned around sharply looking straight at the chef, "And shouldn't you be working on the young master's dinner?" 

"Oh yes, of course of course." Bard jumped up from his spot leaning on the counter, almost dropping the cigarette in his mouth.

======Sea Foam======

"This is where you will be staying, I'll come in the morning to begin your work," Sebastian explained, opening a door to reveal a room barren of any type of decoration. It held only a simple bed and a wardrobe on the opposite wall to the other, to keep from any growing suspicions Adelaide was being given her own room rather than sharing one with Mey-Rin, "We'll have a tailor come within the week to put together a uniform for you, and you are welcome to decorate the room as wish." Adelaide only stared at him, causing a deadpanned look to cross the butler's face. 

"You have no idea what I'm saying do you?" 

"No?" Was her response, and she appeared hopeful she had understood enough of what he said to give the right one. 

"I'll have Mey-Rin stop by and bring you more clothes and dinner. I'll return in the morning." Sebastian sighed, obviously there was no point in trying to do anything today. At least the others had known English. Although it couldn't go as horrible as the young master's german lessons.

Sebastian sighed to himself as he left the siren's room behind, just another tedious task to his never-ending list. If it were possible his master would have him working himself to death before their contract could even be completed. Red eyes glowed in the dark hallway as ideas slipped their way into his thoughts. Tomorrow Sebastian would be the teacher, and even his master knew what kind of teacher he could be.

======Sea Foam======

"I want you to find out whatever you can about her." Ciel had commanded as his butler prepared him for bed, "Do you know anything about sirens?" 

"I'm afraid I can't say I know much, no one knows much about them. I can say they rarely if ever walk on land."

"She's the reason you couldn't find me in Portishead?" He questioned as Sebastian pulled the blankets over him. 

"I am safe to assume that she was, now it's best to go to bed we may continue investigating Adelaide in the morning, My Lord."


	7. paging professor michaelis

She was lost in the dark, something was twisting around her body and it was steadily getting harder for her to breathe. It may have been her first days ever breathing air, but surely the compression on her chest was not right in any way. She had been up for hours but had spent most if not all of that time getting lost in the abundance of fabrics she did not know or understand the workings of. The sound of knocking startled her in the dark, she couldn't see anything as she tripped over the feet that were still so new to her. 

It was by what she understood her first day to be working with Ciel Phantomhive, someone she was instructed to only refer to as the lord of the house, or from what the butler called him young master, or my lord. Adelaide found human customs odd, but if she were to obtain what she needed then she would follow them without complaint and without error. 

"Oh dear, what have you done to yourself?" Sebastian questioned, his tone teasing as he opened the door to the siren's bedroom after hearing the sound of something falling, "You can't even manage a simple task as dressing yourself?"

"I have not understand this cloth," Adelaide muttered, she'd rather preferred if the demon had stayed out of her room. She didn't like him for the sole purpose of she did not like the aura that followed him around. She didn't like how it extended to Ciel when the two were together. Except it was the bond between those two that had left Adelaide in the predicament she was in now. No, not the fact she was lost and abundance of layered skirts, but the fact she was even in the manor, to begin with. 

She flinched when she felt the fabric began to move, and for the second time since her arrival, she was nude. Sebastian's eyes however never left hers as he began to straighten out the borrowed maid uniform. It was only twenty minutes later as he walked Adelaide through each step of dressing herself that they were ready to begin the task of awaking their master.

"Now I will show you this once, and only once. As a servant of the Phantomhive family, you should be able to at the very least be able to dress the part appropriately." Sebastian explained, looking down at the woman, now glaring at him. So it seemed she was picking up on English well enough. The next few minutes were filled with Sebastian explaining each step required to make the maid uniform fit and look appropriate, putting a few of his own touches to keep the dress from falling off of her, she was considerably smaller than Mey-Rin "There are only a few hours now before we are to awake the young master, so it is time to begin breakfast." 

Sebastian placed his watch back into his pocket, extending a gloved hand then to motion for Adelaide to leave first. 

======Sea Foam======

"Are you paying attention? I-" Sebastian paused as he turned to face the silent woman. After the disaster that was the young master's breakfast, the Earl had been quick to send them away demanding that they were not to be in his presence until Adelaide had at least an average understanding of what was to be expected of her.

Rather than paying attention to her English lesson, Adelaide had begun to draw on the pad of paper that Sebastian had given her to take notes on. The butler struggled to keep his composure, he had been giving instructions this entire time and the damn creature wasn't even listening to him. 

Adelaide let out a startled yelp when a ruler struck against her wrists causing her to drop her pencil, and then suddenly the red-eyed demon was leaning dangerously close to her face. 

"Although I do not know your intentions of being here, your first role is not the creature you are but to serve the young master. If you cannot make your attention span last longer than a mere goldfish then it seems we may have a problem." Sebastian spoke, his tone demeaning as Adelaide glared back at him. She wasn't entirely sure if she were supposed to be enjoying her time spent with the demon hovering over her every second of the day. The Earl ending up with breakfast in his lap could not be solely blamed on her, Sebastian had given her very vague instructions and then proceeded to rush her towards where the young master waited. She had never spent the time to roleplay has a servant, no one should have been expecting her to know what she was doing. 

She barely even knew or spoke English, let alone know how to pretend to be the servant of an Englishman.

Sebastian knew one thing after he had spent the night finding all information he could on Siren's, they were very different creatures. Although Sirens are classified as a type of demon, they were not after the same things in terms of what kept them fed. At least not in the same mannerisms. The air was tense, neither of them liked each other. One may be able to go as far as despised or maybe just a lack of understanding kept both from doing anything further than smart remarks and mere glares due to language barriers.

Sebastian turned back to face the chalkboard he had been writing on, repeating what he had been instructing Adelaide on before he found her distracted. She wasn't happy, her wrists hurt now and the butler was getting joy out of her discomfort. 

"Memorize this piece, you have until I return to finish," Sebastian ordered, checking his pocket watch as he placed a paper in front of her.

"Where?" 

"I must prepare the young master's afternoon tea. You will recite this to me when I return."

He was being hard on her, everyone knew that Sebastian was a strict teacher. Even Ciel knew it, he had suffered countless lashings from Sebastian's ruler. She knew her bits of English only from what she heard on the ships and boats she stalked, and from what she learned on the trip that she made to get to London. Ciel, however, had found ways to retaliate, Adelaide had not figured out she could do that. At least not yet.

======Sea Foam======

"I expected this reception", said the daemon "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation-" 

"It's pronounced annihilation, read it again," Sebastian demanded, as Adelaide held her hands close to her chest. They had already been through this for an hour, she had repeated the same sentences but each time she couldn't seem to pronounce something correctly, At least not correctly enough to satisfy the butler, she would receive another lashing across her wrists.

"to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply-"

Another hit, "Pronounced comply. Again."

"If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut-"

"Hit me again, and I will not hesitate to rip your arm off," Adelaide growled, her face molded into something truly herself as her lips pulled back against shark-like teeth. She had grabbed the butler by his wrist quicker than he could keep up with, her other hand had proceeded to break the ruler in half. Her outburst unexpected, Sebastian was somewhat shocked by her sudden change in demeanor, "You do not know me or the likes of what I can do. You can act superior to humans, but know that I am not one of them and will not tolerate being treated like such."

Sebastian once reclaiming his wrist from the now enraged siren cleared his throat before speaking again, "Very well, for now, this will be a mutual understanding of respect. You are right in that I don't know anything about you, but you know little of me as well." 

"but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends."

======Sea Foam======

Adelaide did not speak to Sebastian for the rest of the day, even after her lessons for the day were completed. It wasn't until they were once again in the kitchens that Sebastian went out of his way to approach her again. 

"I understand that I have made you upset," He wasn't planning on apologizing, that was not what this was, she needed to understand what was to be expected of her as a Phantomhive servant especially if their master was planning to have her be seen by the public, "However I will not be the only one you will find yourself getting angry at, the incident during your lesson cannot happen again. We may have mutual knowledge of each other and what we are but that does not make the scene acceptable to ever happen again. If you cannot begin to get your anger problems under control no matter how angry someone may be making you, you need to know you cannot attack someone unless our master requests it of you." He explained as he began to gather the pieces and ingredients to deliver the tea that his master had requested. 

"You did not have to hit me," Adelaide muttered, jumping when Sebastian's gloved hand grabbed her arm inspecting the unblemished skin despite the red marks that had been there after her lesson.

"You healed well enough, you would do better to just get over it" Sebastian demanded, pushing her arm away from him. 

"I still do not like you."

"I never asked you to, now watch me or you'll have the young master dumping tea in your hands when you make it wrong."


	8. the only monster here is you

It was discovered quickly, Adelaide was just as quick to pick up the tasks that were expected of her. After the first day, the weeks following Sebastian did not treat her like an incompetent child. The two respectfully danced around each other in their days working together, Ciel noticed but with no further incident from the first day he kept quiet about it. If they didn't have to, the two servants didn't speak to each other. For the most part there was no reason they should have found it necessary to speak of anything besides their jobs to the Phantomhive family.

Her accent remained steady in her voice but it lost its heaviness through the days. A relief for her as she began to better understand English her lessons with Sebastian we're becoming shorter and less frequent. It became that when Ciel sent Sebastian out for business, Adelaide remained. Although the earl could not begin understand why he had come to trust the siren so easily. He could not understand the easiness he felt when she was around, it was the opposite of what Sebastian made him feel. Always on edge, always needing to be one step ahead no matter the cost. Adelaide instead left a better impression on the psyche, Ciel didn't feel threatened by her nor did she appear to be posing any kind of threat to anyone besides maybe Sebastian and his self-control not to murder her.

Now that she was getting a better comprehension of English he was hoping she would be able to explain herself and the situation they had found themselves in. Which led them here Adelaide standing before the Earl in his study, the valet had been fitted and given her own wardrobe. Both her designated uniform and a series of dresses meant for when she was granted her days off. 

Her uniform consisted of a simple black dress that reached her ankles and full set sleeves that covered her arms. She may have not needed them to hide anything, she still wore a pair of white gloves matching Sebastian's. Her hair was permitted to be pulled free from her face, although she pointed out the butler's lack of doing so and she was left to the agreement that as long as it was at least brushed and combed she could do what she wished with her hair. There was nothing extravagant about it, but it was befitting of her character and of a servant of the Phantomhive Manor.

"I assume you know why I called you in here?" Ciel asked as Adelaide stood in front of his desk, he had called her from the chores that Sebastian had taken to assigning her. Her chores were the one way that Sebastian let her know that he was still in charge of her. He was always finding her something to dust or wipe down, either that or he'd send her to clean up after one of Mey-Rin's misadventures in breaking all the dishes in the manor. 

"You want to know more, some things I can explain, I am still unsure of other things myself." She stated, watching as Ciel seemed to contemplate her words before he looked back at her. 

"I ask again then, why are you here?"

"Sirens have many different stories told about them, each one holds a different truth while then eventually trailing away from it. Simply put I can say we're considered a subspecies of the demon type. We do not necessarily need souls to survive, but they do keep us sustained," Adelaide paused, her focus had left the young earl as she had begun to look anywhere but at him, "Do you know how a siren comes to be, My Lord?" 

"No, I'm afraid I don't." In fact he didn't know anything, if what she said were true than whatever he thought he knew was befitting only in the fairytales from Elizabeth's bedtime stories.

"The reason Sirens are a different class of demon is for one reason and that reason only, we were at some point human," She hesitated to look at the boy, "To the life I was given, I was born for my sole purpose being to die on my eighteenth birthday. Men they say believe they are the highest predator, to the point they burn the innocent and drown the defenseless because they have only ever seen their own prejudices. Men fear what they know awaits them in death, but yet they do nothing to change the lives they live. I believe that it is because of your contract with Sebastian that prevented me from taking your soul myself. Although what binds us is not a contract like the one you have with your butler but understand that for now, all I can say is that I am bound to you until your soul is no longer present in this world."

He dismissed her after that, left with the time to think of what Adelaide had told him. It would seem that Ciel Phantomhive was making it a habit of getting himself in troublesome situations. By saving him in Portishead, Adelaide had either unintentionally or intentionally tied herself to him. Although different from Sebastian, the siren remained with a commitment to his soul. The Earl still believed that for now, Sebastian would remain unaware of Adelaide's purpose. She made no actions that she would be seen as a threat, a bit odd but so was everyone else in the manor. She fit right in for the time being. 

Still the thought irked him, although not a contract Adelaide was only here because it had to with his soul. He could very well say he was thankful that she had in fact saved his life, but would his life not have been in danger if she hadn't gotten involved with the boat in the first place? The Earl smiled to himself as he sifted through the papers on his desk. 

This would be a fun game indeed. He could not wait for the moment Sebastian learned the truth of Adelaide's appearance. He had a feeling the demon wasn't keen on sharing what he had already previously laid claim to. 

======Sea Foam======

There was something that Adelaide had become very fond of in the last month, something that upon even her last time upon the land she had not been able to indulge in. That thing happened to be the existence of human literature. If she were to be asked one thing she could happily praise humans it would be in that of their imaginations in creating something with such a simple structure of language. The things that could be given in such detail on one mere page of paper, if she were able she would have allowed herself to lose herself in books all day long. Ciel had opened up the library to her, claiming as long as she kept it clean and in order she was welcome to do as she pleased with the space. Still there was always very little time for her to spend reading, the cause for this problem was of course Sebastian. 

However although he no longer treated her in such a crude manner, Sebastian did nothing to make her life easy. He always came upon some redundant task for her to do, and the remaining staff may have been comprised of a kind and wonderful group of people she could not deny that in the line of servitude they lacked considerably in skills. So the books were better left forgotten for the majority of the sunlit hours of the day, and she was left with finding any and every attempt to annoy the butler by doing anything right. 

For some reason, her ability to keep up with him bothered the butler immensely, or more so the fact neither the Earl nor Adelaide would tell him the truth of why she was there, pretending to be a servant, far away from the sea where in his mind, she belonged. The case in Portishead had turned cold, as corpses ceased to appear on the shorelines. Ciel made no mention of Adelaide's appearance in his letter to the queen, only a small statement that he was unsuccessful in finding the cause of the deaths but for now he was positive that they would stop and she had nothing further to worry about. 

"Miss Adelaide, please watch out!" The siren was startled by a shrill voice calling out to her, her walk to the kitchens interrupted as Mey-Rin rammed into her with a familiar silver tea cart. The two women went tumbling to the floor, the tea cart tipping over the wheels still spinning in the air as the dishes on it shattered around them, "Oh dear, I am so sorry, yes I am!" Mey-Rin cried as she struggled to stand up. Adelaide didn't really have the patience to even question the maid in what she was doing to even have been able to hit her with that much force. How many times had the bumbling maid already been told not to run in the halls? Sure Mey-Rin was a kind and generous young woman yet she seemed to struggle with the concept of slowing down. It wasn't as though anyone was rushing her to get her job done.

"It's alright, these things do happen. I only ask that you clean up your mess before Sebastian happens by." Adelaide smiled at the maid, straightening herself and turning to leave. The maid mumbled to herself as she began the work of cleaning the mess of ruined china, "And I just got this uniform too." The siren pouted to herself as she pulled out a decent-sized piece of porcelain from her back. She would have to go to her room to change both her clothes and her gloves as the white fabric was stained red from her own blood. 

The days would have been so much easier if she could've have stayed in her room with some books. Yet as expected, and almost like clockwork, the muffled sound of an explosion from the direction of the kitchen told her it was going to be a long evening of cleaning. Her only motivation came from the pile of books sitting in her bedroom just waiting for her to open them because sure human company was nice at times but at the very least books weren't the ones running her over with tea carts.


	9. and i’ll defend this house until the end

The first thing that Adelaide was able to tell when she awoke at such an odd hour was that she was not alone. She couldn't see in the dark, and she may have known that leaving her room so late at night was wrong and especially being draped in only her nightdress. Except she could not shake the feeling of unease as she made her way through the darkened halls of the Phantomhive Manor. There was a scent that was far too familiar for her to actively ignore, it kept her from returning to her room as her bare feet walked along the chilled wood lining the manor floors. Such an indecent way to be dressed sneaking about at such an untimely hour. No other soul presently inside the Manor stirred, none plagued by the same sense of unease that Adelaide felt as she could still sense it as she knew she was stalking closer to the source.

The air reeked with the scent of the wicked.

There was something in the Manor that should not have been there. That much was obvious at the very least, but yet she appeared to be the only one awoken by the idea of intruders. She eventually found herself outside venturing around the house until eventually, she found herself on the outside of the Earl's bedroom where she discovered two men scouring the grounds outside the manor. They were struggling to find a way inside, her gaze narrowed as she stood behind them.

"This is surely a horrendous hour to be expecting guests to arrive, why have you come?" The brunette didn't even bother to flinch when they whirled around to face her, a pistol now aimed squarely at her face. They visibly relaxed when they saw who it was that had spoken. Just a simple maiden lost in the night, draped in a pale pink nightdress surely she could not possibly hope to cause any disruptions to the task they were hired to complete.

"You're just a maid, carry on before we do something to ya-" One man sneered as he turned back to his accomplice, they were dressed in black but yet their appearance was lacking considerably in the proper appeal despite their attire. In short, Adelaide was calling the two men ugly little things. Two hideous creatures believing they were above her to speak to her as if she were such an inconvenience. She could take it from Sebastian, but never would she accept it from two thieving human men.

"I suppose I'm not very intimidating, but as I have been employed here, you carry ill will to the young master," Her eyes seemed to shine brighter in the dark, the only thing the intruders could clearly make out in the dark, then she disappeared

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you," The men jumped in fear as she disappeared and spoke from behind them again, the sound of the gun going off echoed throughout the night. This made the siren angry, her master was a mere boy he needed his rest and these men were a threat to disrupting that. Eyes burned in molten rage as nails turned into claws, this was her job, after all, she was employed to protect the manor and all who lived there. 

If no others were to be stirred so late at night by these vultures then she would simply take out the trash by herself this evening. 

======Sea Foam======

Meanwhile, Ciel had called for his butler when he was awoken by the sound of a gun. The butler, having no need for sleep had already become aware of the situation. He also knew that Adelaide was apt enough to deal with the problem, or he knew that she would probably end up in a fight with him as well as the intruders if he tried to do anything.

"Sebastian, what's going on?" Ciel asked groggily as he sat up in bed, struggling, of course, to keep himself awake after such an intrusion to his dreams. 

"Just some late-night guests, Adelaide appears to be handling them well enough on her own. So do try and go back to sleep, My Lord." Sebastian's tone was cold as another round of shots filled the air. His gaze fell to the window as he looked to the raging Siren dismembering two men in the garden below. He remained in his masters' chambers until he was sure the Earl had returned to a peaceful enough state of slumber before he slipped out into the darkened halls of the manor.

He would have to show her where the bodies went.

======Sea Foam======

Human's were weak creatures, every being above them knew it. She may have been a bit over the top in disposing of the intruders, but that did not take back her statement of the weakness of their mortality. It was just far to easy for her hands to rip into the man's chest. There was just no real struggle when it came ripping his heart out. She had been so free in the sea that she could kill and maim whenever and to whomever, she pleased. It had been nearly two months now since she had had that kind of freedom. So perhaps she could admit she was having far to much fun with it, but she was still doing her job in protecting the Manor and the Earl so who cared if she made a mess at four in the morning, at the very least she knew she would clean it up afterward.

She was filled with blood lust as the man's heart came to a stuttering end in her hand. Then before she could think of a more riveting way to dispose of the other a burning pain erupted through her shoulder accompanied by the ever-present echoing sound of a gun, one, two, three, the bullets embedded themselves in her body. She wasn't sure if this was rage or purely a feeling of annoyance. Honestly, it was very much both feelings rolled up into one. Rage because how dare these idiotic thieves barge onto her masters land and then proceed to wave their gun around like some kind of lunatic while the Earl was getting his much-needed rest. Annoyance because men wore such a front but were so easy to be the first ones to fear for themselves and care only for their own pitiful lives. She released the heart and it's owners body, now cadaver, and went for the one bold enough to shoot her. 

"You are really such a pain, and I'm sure the young master is presently awake after this. Unfortunately for you, I have to kill you now." Her features turned sharp, her lips curling back against razor-sharp teeth. Why hide what she was when this man would be alongside his partner in no time at all.

"What the hell are you!" The man screamed desperately in fear as if asking her that would help him anyway. The thief backed away from the bloodied woman, stumbling over his own feet. He attempted to raise the gun at her again but was stopped as she grabbed his arm, disarming him was easy enough when she was able to rip it from its socket. 

"I'm Adelaide Darrow, Valet to the Earl Phantomhive. I'm only doing now what is expected of me." She grinned, and maybe if it were not for the blood belonging to not only hear but to the man's deceased accomplice she may have appeared an inviting figure. Except she was covered in blood her nightgown was ruined, beyond any hope of repair. She grabbed the man by his throat pleased as his eyes widened in shock as she lifted him in the air, "As a servant of the Phantomhive Manor it is to say what kind of servant would I be if I could not properly dispose of the trash?" Her nails embedded themselves in the soft flesh of the man's neck, blood being so easily drawn as it trailed its way over her hand. 

It was the sound of footsteps against the stone walkways that made Adelaide pause in her plan of bloody murder her head-turning sharply to the left. 

"You really do make quite the mess," Sebastian tutted, surveying the scene he had walked upon. 

Adelaide ripped out the man's neck, "If you don't like the way I do things, then do them yourself, or is it that you are jealous that I'm not tied to a leash such as you are?" With a glowing red glare as a response, Adelaide felt a laugh bubble in her throat such a humourous laugh from a woman drenched in a dead man's blood, "Did you just come out here to mock me, or help me?" 

There was a part of her that was tempted to collect the men's souls for herself, it would only be another thing she could rub in the butler's face to irritate him further. She wasn't stupid and she knew that the demon had to be starving at this point, but his contract with Ciel prevented him from doing anything of the sort. 

======Sea Foam======

"If you would stop moving we could get this done with a lot faster!" Sebastian scolded the woman as if she were a child, "In fact, if you hadn't acted so foolishly we wouldn't be here." The demon was currently digging bullets out of her shoulder. Her nightgown was clutched tightly to her chest, indulging in her newfound modesty despite the state she had arrived in the demon had already seen her naked twice already in the two short months she had been employed. 

"Well, it hurts! Bloody hell you did that on purpose," She was felt inclined to hit the damned butler when he hit a sore spot, as she clutched the sides of the table tighter in her discomfort, she was sitting with her back to him so she could not see the smirk that Sebastian wore. They had managed to dispose of the bodies, how and where they put them was only something they would know, "You could at least pretend to care. Dammit!"

"A lady shouldn't allow such vulgar language to leave her mouth. My hand only slipped, and that's the last one. It should heal soon enough," Sebastian stated still amused finally placing the last bullet with the other two. Although she could heal at inhuman speeds, the bullets had not made any exit wounds and it would surely be unwise to allow the wounds to heal over them. She needed to have someone remove them, and with them being in such an awkward place she had no choice but to ask the demon for help, however reluctant about it if she was really in the mood for the discomfort it would bring she would not have asked in the first place. Especially if she knew Sebastian was just going to make fun of her the entire time.

Adelaide mumbled something under her breath as she stood up pulling her nightgown back over her shoulders, "I'm sorry?" She could tell by the amusement in his voice that he had, in fact, heard her. 

"I said thank you," She huffed, "Are you happy now?" She was starting to wonder if she'd develop an unnerved twitch if he kept this up she had no doubts about the possibility. She gasped in shock when Sebastian spun her around so they were facing each other, their faces were mere centimeters apart, their eyes never leaving each other as Sebastian leaned closer into her. He placed a hand under her chin the same feeling of dread ran through her body whenever he touched her. The feeling intensified by the fact his hands were bare having removed his gloves to keep from staining them. 

"Oh dear, I'm never happy." He smirked as he released his hold on her, turning around and leaving her alone in the unlit kitchen. 

So this was his payback from the kiss in the garden? Adelaide smiled to herself as she felt the racing of her heart, so it seemed even Sebastian's attempts at seduction worked even on a siren. That was just her body's reaction though, winning over her mind would be a much harder feat to accomplish, for both of them.


	10. for it is said, and thus it must be true

The impromptu arrival of Elizabeth Midford had been one of complete unexpectedness and mild shock when she just so happened to burst through the doors of Ciel's study. If Adelaide had not been as graceful as she was prone to be then she surely would have dropped the entire pot of tea on the Earl's desk. 

"Ciel!" 

"Elizabeth?" 

Each had opposite reactions to the other, Elizabeth's was filled with excited squealing while Ciel's held shock and astonishment if not a pinch of annoyance as she stood over his desk. Adelaide had heard of the young masters betrothed, this would be her first time seeing the bubbly blonde. It was the same for the lady as she took notice of the woman standing in place of Ciel's butler. It was hard of course not to notice the lack of Sebastian towering over the young Earl the butler never exactly had to say anything to get himself noticed.

"Oh, who are you?" Elizabeth asked, it seemed her fiance did not just have a talent for finding handsome butlers, but beautiful maids too? The woman stood confidently beside the Earl, her gloved hands setting the tea pot gently back onto the familiar silver cart. Once she had done so the yellow eyed woman looked back up at Elizabeth who waited for her answer.

"Adelaide Darrow, I have recently been hired as the Earl's valet. You must be Lady Elizabeth." Adelaide smiled, getting an equally enthusiastic one back.

"Please call me Lizzie, it's much cuter than Elizabeth." Ciel did not have the extra energy to expel to remind his cousin that Adelaide was in fact a servant, it would be wrong for her to refer to her in such a manner. He had more pressing matters to attend to than Elizabeth's always changing whims.

"What are you doing here?" Ciel questioned, he did not seem to be sharing his cousin's enthusiasm as she looked back to him. 

"I missed you, and mother and father are away from home for a few weeks and Edward is away at school. The house was getting dreadfully boring with only Paula, so I sneaked away when she wasn't paying attention." Elizabeth smiled cheekily, seeming to find nothing wrong with what she had done. 

"Adelaide go find Sebastian and tell him we are leaving to escort Elizabeth home." If looks could kill Elizabeth would have been on the floor, except it wasn't the young lady's fault. Adelaide had begun the process of collecting her things preparing to make her way back to the kitchen with the cart, hoping to run into Sebastian at some point on the way there.

"No, I don't want to!" Both servant and master were surprised by the young lady's outburst, "I'm tired of everyone pushing me off, I don't want to sit around and wait. Please, Ciel can I just stay until mother and father get back from their trip?" Elizabeth was near to tears as she begged, eventually Ciel sighed in defeat. 

It wasn't as though he didn't like her, no he cared for her in the only way he could and most of the time doing so meant pushing her away. In the end, it was just safer for her that way, but the problem was Elizabeth was just as stubborn as he was if not more so. She had set her mind to stay at the manor, and clearly was not going to be taking anything but a yes as the proper answer. 

"Very well, you're welcome to stay for the time being." Ciel winced as the girl released a high pitched squeal of excitement, in a flurry of brightly colored skirts Elizabeth had smothered the grumpy earl in a hug. 

"The young master is very busy today my lady, so why don't we go see if we can find something to occupy ourselves?" Adelaide offered, easily guiding the blonde out of the study. It was out in the hall that the duo ran into Sebastian, "Lady Elizabeth will be staying with us for a few weeks Sebastian." The two women carried on after that, leaving the butler and his master to discuss what business they had to handle.

"You know you're very pretty Miss. Adelaide. I wouldn't think a servant role very befitting of you." Elizabeth stated as she looked up at the woman It was such a blunt statement in terms of where each of them sat on the hierarchy of society. Still the youngest Midford child had seen very many pretty women in her life. She had attended enough balls and galas, but she had never seen someone as beautiful as this strange character known as Adelaide Darrow. 

"That is very considerate of you My Lady," The siren chuckled, "Is there anything you have in mind to do today?"

"Not particularly, I supposed I should have known Ciel would be busy, what do you like to do for fun?" Elizabeth was visibly upset that she was unable to spend time with Ciel, but she was trying her best to hide it. 

"I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to spend with you while you're here, but for now it is a rather nice day may I ask you to accompany me for a stroll through the gardens?"

======Sea Foam======

"For a creature so fond of the sea, why is that I continue to find you in these situations?" Sebastian questioned as he found the Phantomhive Valet and his master's fiancee laughing in a tree. They had crowns of leaves and twigs on their heads, and mud on their cheeks, "Lady Elizabeth you are absolutely filthy."

The girl grew solemn from the scolding butler's tone, "There is no reason to get upset with her, it was my idea," Adelaide defended, "Someone had to keep her company because obviously, you weren't going to do it." It was true, Elizabeth was loud and boisterous she had no qualms with sharing her emotions with those around her. Sebastian was one of the people who weren't to keen on reciprocating the girl's emotions. He would not have made a good babysitter, and who knew what errands Ciel had already planned for him to make. 

"Unless you can behave as a responsible adult I will not be taking any orders from you, Lady Elizabeth I ask you to get out of that tree immediately," Slowly and carefully with Adelaide's help, the blonde found her feet placed back safely on the ground. It upset the woman because she saw in Elizabeth what she used to be. She just wanted people to be happy, and live her life in a way that kept herself wrapped in security. Except Elizabeth wasn't as naive as she had been, she chose ignorance over facing reality. Aesthetic over practicality. Weakness over strength. Love over victory. Some things Adelaide had never come to face a choice for, but she knew she wanted Elizabeth to be able to make her own choices, and with the truth in her heart, she loved Ciel with every ounce of it, "It's bad enough you behave this way with Finnian, but it is unbefitting for the young lady to behave in such a way." Sebastian stated once he had sent Elizabeth back inside to clean up. However unaware of the crown of flowers the young lady had tucked away in the skirts of her dress. 

"You know I just think you haven't climbed enough trees lately, or you have and have managed to get a stick up your-" She was easily now hanging upside down in the tree, Sebastian really didn't know where this personality had come from. She had changed a lot in the past few weeks since she had appeared in the fountain, clearly she had either retained said character or was learning some distasteful behavior from all the books she had taken to, as she called it, 'study human literature'. 

"That's enough," Sebastian replied curtly, "As a Phantomhive servant you should be able to behave in a more reserved manner. It is improper for you to manage yourself in such a way especially as a woman."

"A bit of a prejudice against the opposite sex is it not?" Adelaide teased, Sebastian was growing irritated by her rebuttals. He was beginning to think he needed to put a restriction on her access to the library. Their faces were only millimeters apart, truthfully there was no other choice she could make, "Ow! What was that for?!" The siren cried out as she was pulled rather harshly out of the tree.

"You had another one of your ideas I wasn't going to allow you to kiss me again. Perhaps maybe if you stopped acting like a child I will begin to treat you as an equal. As of now, you make me wish not to do such a thing." 

Neither had taken to speak about the last time Sebastian had found Adelaide in a tree, nor of the turn Sebastian took in getting back at her what was now only two days ago. Clearly someone was being played a certain way but neither demon was set on letting it be them. 

======Sea Foam======

Ciel had still not spent a moment of time with Elizabeth, he had not even come for dinner when it was served. Although it may have only been a day into her stay with her fiancé, she knew it had been foolish of her to believe that he would actually want to spend time with her. 

The Ciel she had now was to different from the one she had before, and as she picked at the lump of chicken on her plate Elizabeth found that her appetite had escaped her. 

"Is it not to your liking my lady?" Adelaide asked, noticing the girl's saddened expression. 

"Oh no it's fine. I just don't feel very hungry right now." Her composure was the complete opposite of what she had arrived with. 

"Do you wish to prepare for the night?" 

"If that's alright I would like to do that." Elizabeth sighed, pushing the chair backward as she stood up to follow the older woman. She had at first simply been entertaining the girl, until the earl finally asked her formally to take care of her and make sure she remained out of trouble. It was although debatable if the siren would be able to remain out of trouble herself. 

Adelaide helped Elizabeth dress for bed, now able to easily understand the excessive amounts of fabrics and the layers of dress that were mandatory to appear proper in society. Elizabeth remained silent through out it all.

"Does Ciel not love me?" Her voice was soft, almost inaudible to the servant brushing through her hair, and they caught each other's gazes in the vanity mirror.

"The young master as I've come to know is not the same he was before his return, you know this more so than I. Unfortunately I cannot speak for him as if I am him myself, but understand that never could he hate you. He has his reason for what he does, but sometimes I do believe some of his choices are a bit outlandish." 

"I only want him to smile, like he used too." Her happy demenour faltered further as she began to fidget with her hands in her lap. Adelaide didn't find sadness befitting of the young lady as she set the brush down placing her hands on Elizabeth's head to make her look back up.

"What are your plans then? To make the young master smile, you must have ideas." Adelaide smiled as she leaned over the blonde. 

"Well it is his birthday next month...." Elizabeth trailed off, her eyes growing wide as the topic of Ciel's birthday ran through her mind. She had been so distracted by everything that she had nearly forgotten that it was now almost December.

"A party then?" The siren mused, the mere mention of the word seemed enough to spark up Elizabethms interest as she spun around in her seat. Her green eyes widening with excitement from the ideas already running through her head. 

"Oh we must and it'll be so cute Ciel will have no choice but to smile!" Elizabeth raved, now her mood elated by the idea of surprising Ciel, "Would you want to help? We can't let anyone else know. It has to be a surprise." Everyone loved parties, this would be the perfect plan. 

"I'd be glad, However my master is not a fan of large events perhaps keeping the guest list to only close friends and family would be best my lady." Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement, there was a reason that the Earl Phantomhive rarely went out of his way to attend social events if he wasn't presently working on a case for the Queen.

"And please just call me Lizzie,"

"That would be improper." 

"Please, I just want one person to call me such. I could call you Addie, wouldn't that be cute?" Elizabeth, or Lizzie, gushed as she jumped from her seat. Obviously the girl was enjoying having another woman to talk to, and on the sad thought of the fact that Elizabeth Midford did not appear to have that many friends. 

"Of course, now it's time for bed." The child released a fit of giggles as she jumped into her bed, allowing Adelaide to tuck her in for the night, "I'll return in the morning for breakfast." 

"Goodnight Addie."

"Goodnight Lizzie." 

======Sea Foam======

"I don't have time to play, I have more important matters to attend to." Ciel scowled, so unbefitting for a face so cute. Adelaide, after making sure Elizabeth was taken care of had approached her master with a question. Just the simple question on if he was planning on actually spending time with his fiancée or merely lock himself away in his own home. 

"She would be happy with just an hour, Liz- Lady Elizabeth just wishes to spend some time with you." Adelaide explained, ignoring Sebastian's look he gave her as she nearly referred to Elizabeth in an informal of manner for her status, "She didn't even eat her dinner My Lord." That seemed to catch the Earl's attention. Finally he sighed.

"Fine, I'll take her into town tomorrow. She likes shopping, I suppose we can go after breakfast." 

"Thank you, My Lord." Ciel dismissed her after that. She was on her way to her room when footsteps were accompanied by a voice stopped her.

"Why do you care for a child you just met today?" Sebastian asked as he caught her to her easily.

"I see he let you go to, and I don't really see it any of your business. I'm in charge of Lady Midford's well-being while she is here that is all," Adelaide deflectade Sebastian's attempts to start an argument with her, she continued on her way down the halls a figure clad in black was by her side now. 

"What is your plan then."

"I don't have a plan, I'm helping and I have no alternative motives besides trying to make Lizzie feel better." She was annoyed by his questions, as if she were anything like him. There was nothing but the plan to make Elizabeth happy and help her get the time she wants with Ciel. 

"Lizzie is it?" 

"She was adamant on the nickname thing," She had now made it to her room, the butler was not prepared to let her retire for the night without further inquiries, "Now Sebastian, I'm not like you. I do things because I know they're the right things to do. I do not hold malicious intent over people's heads, so do not question why it is I manage the way I do. Now good night." And she slammed her bedroom door in his face.


	11. down by the bay where the lost souls go

She was tricked into coming. Elizabeth's excitement had begun when she found Ciel already waiting for her in the dining room for breakfast. Adelaide had almost found it impossible to keep the girl still as she dressed her for the day. The little lady was adamant about wearing her best dress, she wanted to be cute just for Ciel. She nearly fainted from her excitement when she told the girl that she would be spending the day with her fiance, an entire day when she would have merely enjoyed just an hour of his time. 

"Now it's your turn!" Elizabeth had exclaimed, her blonde hair now in her signature pigtails, she went to push Adelaide to sit in front of the vanity. The young lady was wearing a baby pink dress with a matching pair of low-heeled shoes, Adelaide kept the thought to herself that at her age the lady should not have been wearing these kinds of shoes. 

"Lizzie I really shouldn't. The young master has me under dress code." The woman hesitated, she did have an image she was set to follow upon being a Phantomhive servant. Allowing Elizabeth to do anything too outlandish to her outward appearance would lead to an awkward and possibly demeaning conversation with Sebastian. 

"We'll tell him it was me, you look like Sebastian in such a dreary outfit." Elizabeth grimaced at how uncute the woman's dress was. It was far too plain and the gloves did nothing to help the aesthetic she looked more ready to attend a funeral than anything else, "Just let me do your hair then." 

In the end, Adelaide had no choice but to come, Ciel didn't ask it of her but upon watching his servant being dragged out of the house by his fiancée there was no choice but to have her in attendance. Her only complaint was that she was stuck to spend the day with Sebastian breathing down her neck and having something to say about everything she did.

Elizabeth, unable to get her chance to dress up the valet Adelaide was now sporting a braid with just about every color of ribbon she could get her hands on. As had been stated before, neither Ciel or Sebastian was allowed to say anything about the outrageous hairstyle because her hair was at the very least brushed and combed as had been the only requirements she was set to follow. Plus no one wanted to upset Lizzie by trying to undermine her proclamation at being a spectacular hairdresser, and that Adelaide looked absolutely adorable with her hair the way it was. The woman was just cringing at the knots she had to look forward to combing out later.

"What are we going to do today?" Elizabeth asked, looking from the window of the carriage to Ciel sitting across from her. 

"I thought you would like to go see Miss Hopkins about getting a new dress." The decision had only been made under Adelaide's discretion the night before. However she did not explain the reason for Elizabeth's need for such an extravagant dress, the Earl seemed almost unaware of his birthday fast approaching. He did know enough about his betrothed in the least that he knew she would enjoy the idea of a new piece to her wardrobe, and Nina Hopkins would love it, even more, to make it for her.

Elizabeth was absolutely elated by the idea, sharing a look with Adelaide, it went unseen by the other two males in the carriage. Her mind was already running with ideas for Ciel's birthday and questions on if they could possibly manage to pull it off without someone catching wind of what they were doing. She wasn't sure if she would be able to obtain the smile she wanted from him, and as the fear that he wouldn't like her surprise, she began to grow eerily quiet in her seat. 

She wanted it to be the cutest party ever, and to even have the chance to dance with Ciel, it would be the best birthday party in the history of birthdays. Elizabeth would just have to trust that Adelaide would help her with putting it together. 

The two females had bonded quite quickly, despite the class difference but one could tell that Adelaide remained only a few years her senior. Yet it was just the aura that the woman gave off that had made it so easy to get along with her as if there was something drawing you in, still, whatever it was it was what was making her so easily likable to those she came across. Save for Sebastian, but to be fair no one really counted him as people. 

======Sea Foam======

Surprisingly the two demons in the earl's company were dismissed, and a blushing mess he simply told them he wanted to be alone with Elizabeth. Of course, they were never too far away to hear their masters call but listened and ventured out on their own endeavors. It was her first time being in the inner city of London, she had taken trips throughout the growing city itself but that usually pertained to a task Sebastian had sent her on. There had never really been time to stroll through the streets and truly take in everything there was, there were so many people. There was so much going on at once that she found it hard to focus on just one thing. Her last time on land, humans had not yet come upon the idea of an industrial city of such magnitude. 

The only downside was that Sebastian was following her around, "You know the young master said we were free to do as we pleased for the next few hours, do you wish to spend yours stalking me?" She didn't even spare a glance behind her as she peered into the window of a toy store, a familiar Funtom rabbit stared back at her from its own personal pedestal.

The truth was he didn't trust her, but she didn't trust him either and but her distrust contained much better reasons than his, "I'm merely accompanying you, Miss Darrow," There it was, such a show off in his fake hospitality. He'd very well like to let it be known his true nature, and something was beginning to tell him that Adelaide knew that. 

"Let ussay I were to tell you why I'm here," She paused in front of a shop, startled by the display in the front window, it was a butcher shop, "If I were to tell you, understand that it very well remains that you still would not be rid of me." She hurried on her way caring little now for the people as she weaved through the crowded streets. For some reason the crowded streets were beginning to cause her a sense of distress, something was wrong.

"The young master is not one to be so easily trusting, in light of the fact he'd very well allow you to stand in my place if the occasion arose for it is the only thing to raise concern in your intentions," Sebastian explained, and it was the truth, Ciel was under contract with him not her, so for the Earl to have even the slightest thought of allowing Adelaide to take his place in any possible absences was beginning to cause a problem. 

"So I suppose I'll ask you the same as I did of him, do you know how a siren comes to be? Do you know what I am?" They stood on a bridge now, the River Thames flowing freely beneath them, and she realized she had not truly known where she was going. The feeling of uneasiness was growing as her eyes flickered to between both ends of the bride. The bridge connected two sides of the city from where the river had cut through it, however, it lacked the expected traffic, so there were few prying ears to hear the woman speak, but for the streets to be so busy and the bridge so empty.

"Unfortunately I'm not well versed in the study of fish." Sebastian mocked, causing a scoff of annoyance to rise out of her throat. Was he not feeling the same forboding she was? Perhaps it was just the new surroundings perhaps the streets of London were just a lot for anyone the first time?

"Yet I know enough about you, so strange to see such a selfish man acting like a dog," She was easily able to get under his skin, yet it was never hard for anyone to pick up in the butler's distaste for anything remotely canine "Yet it seems so fitting for you to be named after one." It was an easy sound to hear over the humdrum of human chatter, the loading of a gun. The familiar sound of metal clicking into place. Despite having just insulted him, Sebastian grabbed her by her wrist towards him causing Adelaide to stumble into him. 

Time seemed to slow as the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the streets of London, the sound of people screaming in fear as they ran desperately for cover. Adelaide could only stare up in shock as a bullet shot through the air where her head had been only mere seconds ago. 

"You're human, or at the very least you used to be, you are not like me a bullet through your skull would not be something you'd recover from. It would seem someone is out to get you, Miss Darrow."

======Sea Foam======

"Is it not just the cutest dress you've ever seen?" Elizabeth gushed, twirling around her bedroom. Adelaide offered laughter and a round of applause at the child's little dance. It was late into the evening now, and all had noticed by now just how happy the day had made the young Lady Midford. She had wanted to show her new friend the dress that had been tailored just for her, in a swirl of blue fabric and ruffles galore Elizabeth was with no doubt floating on cloud nine.

Immediately after the attempted murder of one Adelaide Darrow, both servants waisted no time in going back to where the dressmaker's shop was. Conveniently enough Elizabeth had just had just gotten her dress finished as Sebastian stepped to the side with his master to explain that it was advisable to return to the manor promptly. 

"It is a magnificent dress, but I'm afraid it is time for bed." Adelaide motioned the girl over to the extravagant canopy bed, where she began to undo the laces on the dress. It was a difficult task trying to keep the bouncing girl to stand still long enough for her to do so. 

"I can't wait until Ciel's birthday, thank you so much for helping me Addie," Elizabeth thanked the woman again as she was tucked into bed. She was rather upset that her day was cut rather short without much of an explanation, but still she was happy with the time she did get even if it wasn't as long as she wanted it to be. It didn't help though that if one were to ask just how much time Elizabeth wanted to spend with Ciel she would have no choice but to say forever.

"It's the least I could do, now goodnight Lizzie."

Adelaide left the young girl's room with a smile on her lips as she walked through the now dark halls. She had never thought she'd get to meet someone she'd call a friend. Her kind didn't tend to stay together, sirens were rather territorial when it came down to it making them solitary creatures, and although she had never been bothered by the lonely life at sea now the idea of Elizabeth wanting to be her friend was a thought she found herself to be okay with.

It was with this that Adelaide was okay with the fact that she was set to plan an entire party without the knowledge of the lord of the House ever finding out about it, as it was set that Elizabeth would be returning home at the end of the week but her enthusiasm would remain in spirit and would most likely be the only thing motivating Adelaide to do it. 

Her first course of action, however, would have to be teaching Sebastian how to keep his high and mighty narcissism out of her business. Before she could do anything though, Adelaide found her presence requested in the Earl's study. 

"I don't understand why someone would attempt something like that in public?" Ciel wondered out loud, of course, he was talking about the scene on the bridge in London, "Very few people even know that Adelaide works for me."

"I don't think they were aiming for her My Lord," Sebastian spoke up, "They could have very well been aiming for me, or simply they had recognized me and knew who I was and assumed I was escorting Adelaide around under your orders."

"I suppose so, still we can't go off of only assumptions if someone is attempting to wipe out my servants I want to know who. Sebastian, I want you to investigate and find the gunman from today. Find out why he did it."

"Of course My Lord," Sebastian bowed to the Earl before disappearing from the room. Adelaide was left alone with her master who was now studying her intently before he spoke again. 

"Do you have any further information to tell me? About what you are? You've said before you always knew the day you would die. What did you mean by that?" Ciel asked, hoping, no more like silently demanding that she tell him. 

"I was born a long time ago when people were still afraid of what the world held for them as humans. It was with this fear that people began to do the wrong thing despite believing they were doing good for themselves in means of survival. They would have called me lucky to have been born when I was, every eighteen years the first girl born in the last year was chosen. I just happened to be the lucky ones, the last one they would ever get to chose. My village believed that if they were to sacrifice just one of their own then it would mean the rest would be better off and survive. They had thrown me into the sea with weights chained to my feet, but only after doing things to me things I hadn't even known the words to understand what it was they were doing. The only thing I remember feeling was fear and then only anger. Anger for the way the people I had cared for had betrayed me, my own mother hadn't even tried to protect me. She was the first person to ever feed me lies, and after I became what I am now, a Siren, I made sure she would be the last one. Whatever made me like this gave me the chance to make sure it never had to happen to anyone else. If I cannot break your contract with Sebastian then I will do anything in my power to keep your soul out of his hands."


	12. the raven painted black

Elizabeth liked Adelaide. Although the young lady did not necessarily hate anyone, she found enjoyment that the woman did not scold her for being who she wanted to be. In her own home, she was faced with her mother's scrutiny, and it may be so the marquess behaved the way she did out of love and a sense of protectiveness over her children, but Elizabeth did not want to be her mother. In the Phantomhive manor, she received the same behavior from Sebastian and even from Ciel. Adelaide may not be interested in the same things as her, but their common interest it would seem to be was that they both wanted to exceed the limitations placed upon them. 

There was no denying that in the short week that Elizabeth had stayed with them that something now connected the young woman to the siren. Albeit only the two knew what it was, and as she bided her time in getting into the carriage her mother had sent Elizabeth and Adelaide spoke in hushed voices. 

"We'll have it in the ballroom here at the manor, I will handle the big stuff and I will send word when the time comes," Adelaide assured the girl for the hundredth time since they had come up with the idea, had spent countless hours in the library planning the fourteenth birthday of one grumpy Ciel Phantomhive. Elizabeth had so far listened to Adelaide's warnings that it would not be an entirely extravagant or public matter to speak of, it would only be a surprise party made up of the Midford family and the occupants of the Phantomhive Manor. 

"I'll speak to my mother, she'd love to come." Elizabeth grinned until finally a nameless footman approached and gently coaxed the girl into the carriage, "Goodbye Ciel!" She waved haphazardly to the Earl who was still recovering from the bone-crushing bear hugs she had bombarded him with that morning. Lizzie just couldn't wait until the party came around, she knew it would make Ciel happy. It had to work, there was no way she could accept any other outcome.

Elizabeth Midford was a lot of things, but above all else, she wanted to be something good for Ciel. It could've just been her only way of knowing how to cope with the losses she had faced, still, she wanted to be good. Adelaide was more than happy to help Elizabeth become whoever she wanted to be in this life. 

======Sea Foam======

Adelaide was humming. She, under Ciel's request, had refrained from singing but even speaking just so Adelaide could easily find drawing in prey to be a task with little to no difficulty. She was planning, of course, no other occupants of the manor knew what it was, and so naturally, Sebastian became suspicious of her allusive behavior. Her constant humming, twirling down the hall as she scribbled about in her journal. He had followed her from the Manor after requesting a personal visit to London. He reminded himself that this was only to find out what she was planning, not because her first time in the city had nearly gotten her shot in the head. The ordeal that had conspired on the bridge, however, had been dealt with, merely a man after the Phantomhive name who just happened to think attacking his servants would be a good way to get to him.

Sebastian still had not figured out why exactly she had needed to make such a large purchase of white construction paper, or all the ribbon.

Another demon, or whatever she may be, had simply waltzed into his territory and suddenly there was the urge to just kill her only diluted series of emotions he hadn't quite taken the time to decipher, but the urge to destroy what he saw as the competition outweighed anything else except the fact of the matter was they were both bound by thirteen-year-olds whims and desires and he was unable to do such a thing. It was debatable at least only on a few occasions if what he was feeling was an actual need to kill her or something else. Sebastian was conflicted with something he did not personally like the feeling of, and that was what had led him to where he was now.

There was little known of sirens, or mermaids you know the gist of these half-human half-fish creatures. At least little that was consistent with what he knew of the one currently on her way to serve his master his afternoon tea. He wasn't lying when he had told her he knew little of sea-related creatures, truthfully he had never had a reason to know about them. Obviously, by Adelaide's terms, she wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. So he snooped.

As her humming grew quieter the further she went down the hall Sebastian welcomed himself into her room. Please do not think lowly of him for sneaking into a woman's chambers it was in no way his fault that he felt it necessary to do such a thing. Sebastian could be a lot of things but he had no plans on being a pervert. At least not in this moment of time. However, that wasn't the focus right now, as he studied the space around him. 

Adelaide's bedroom was considerably devoid of any real personal affiliation with space. It had changed very little from the first time Sebastian had shown her to the bedroom. The only changes being the tower of books that had yet to be returned to the library, and the wardrobe she had been given otherwise the room bore little else to show that anyone had even taken residence to it. There was nothing immediately out of place that could catch his attention to raise further suspicion. Where could she have possibly hidden all of that paper?

It was not until he came across the small desk pushed underneath the sole window in the room, on it was an array of papers with what appeared to be unfinished letters. Carefully he picked one up surprised to see such an informal introduction to Lizzie.

’Dear Lizzie,

Obviously, I don't think talking over the phone would do much good with too many people able to overhear on our conversation. So I hope that this letter is alright with you. I've come to understand that this plan of yours is going to take much more effort to pull off than I had originally thought, but if you were still hoping to invite your mother I feel as though with her help this party would be able to come about much more smoothly than anything I could hope to conjure up. 

All things considered, planning a party and balancing my duties to the Earl as of present is a lot, and a certain you know who isn't making it any easier to sneak around. 

So I await your response in knowing if you wish to let your mother in on the secret and if she wishes to offer any assistance in the matter.’

"What are you doing?" He hadn't heard her coming back to her room, a new bundle of books tucked under her arm, "I know I didn't think very highly of you but I didn't think you'd actually stoop this low."

"I don't believe the young master would be very pleased to know you are corresponding with his betrothed in such an informal manner." Sebastian glowered back at the small woman, holding the unfinished letter in his hands as evidence.

"Diabhal tú!" Sure he didn't know what she had just said but from her angry tone and the way she ripped the paper from his grasp it clearly wasn't going to be anything good, "Is fuath liom tú! I can't believe that you feel so threatened by my mere presence that you think you're so able to threaten me." Adelaide growled as she dropped her books on the floor forgotten for the time being.

"It may be so but you're the one who came here and intruded on something that will be mine."

"You still don't get it? Do you?" Adelaide asked, her voice desperate for the answer she needed as she looked at him, "Even if I told you. Even if you knew anything about me there's no way that would help you get rid of me." 

"Then why is it so hard for you to tell me, Miss Darrow?" Sebastian sneered as he stepped closer to the smaller woman, instinctively she took steps backward until there was nowhere else to go and her back hit the wall, "It may be that it cannot help me, but you are the one intruding on something I consider to be mine. I believe I deserve some kind of explanation as to why." 

"I saved him because I didn't exactly see you doing anything about it. What were you doing that you couldn't even see he was gone?" Adelaide demanded as she found herself another one of the many people capable of irritating the butler as she watched a dormant red turn into a burning Fuschia as he pushed her further against the wall. Her breaths were shallow, why was he so close? 

"If you hadn't gone near the boat this would not have become a problem." Their faces were mere millimeters apart both were tempted to close the gap, but neither was tempted to be the one to do it. However before much more could be done Sebastian turned away from Adelaide, "I don't have to answer to you as I have in fact been placed in charge of this estate and the people or fish it may employ. I expect you to finish the tasks assigned to you and begin preparations for dinner." And he would have left after that, questions still unanswered and her baiting tactics only wanting the get what he wanted even more. It was Adelaide's voice speaking as she pulled herself away from the wall. 

"Seeing how you will not stop until you know the truth. I will remain by the Earl Phantomhive until his soul no longer resides in this world. Whether it be you or me, and I don't particularly like the idea of losing." She smirked, feeling victorious with no understanding of the impact her words had. Either that or she clearly knew what game she was playing as Sebastian was far too quick to leave her room after that. 

He had no choice. He could not have stayed there any longer without doing something that would lead to trouble for all of them. It was not until he was locked behind the door of his own room that he released what it was he had been holding back. 

There were no words in the English language to properly describe just what it was he was feeling. The only thing that could be of hope to get close was that of unbridled and irreversible rage as he brought destruction to a room that was never used. His room with no need to use it for its intended purposes was just as barren if not more so as Adelaide's. There was no indication that anyone had taken residence to it, no evidence of his personal doings would ever be able to be found. 

Still, that did not prevent him from taking the necessary precautions to keep people out of it, unlike a certain woman who had made it far to easy to invade her private space. Despite his lack of everyday use, Sebastian was finding that demolishing a bed into nothing but dust and splinters was a kind enough stress reliever as he took his anger out on the few pieces of furniture around him. 

There was no way that he could have shown this kind of anger in front of Adelaide. He couldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing just how badly her words had gotten to him. To know that even his master had been conspiring against him in the terms of their contract. Ciel had known just what kind of threat Adelaide was to their deal but had not felt the obligation to tell him of it. 

Sebastian would have continued his demolition was the room, to tear apart every last piece of it to the ground until he had no choice but to return to the source of his anger. Except he had other duties to attend to they were made evident as the sound of his master calling for him could be heard. 

No, he couldn't kill her, Ciel wouldn't let him do it. Sebastian wasn't entirely sure now if he would even be able to do it. Not like that of course, the other night in the kitchen had proven enough to him that she wasn't as immune to mundane injuries as he was. She was easily killed, but did he really want to?

He couldn't do anything now, this seemed now more of a waiting game to see who would come out on top. Adelaide was the only thing that could come between the contract binding the demon known as Sebastian Michaelis to the Earl Ciel Phantomhive, and she had more than enough intentions to make it happen.


	13. juliet has a gun

Adelaide had allowed herself to fall into this situation, even if it were for the sole purpose of stealing the gun Timberlin had tucked away. She had been generous enough to make sure they were far enough away from the main area of the party. No one would be able to hear much of anything over the boisterous and loud music the orchestra had begun to play. 

No one could hear Adelaide ramming a man's head in the wall, nor his screams as she let him drop to the floor. Yellow eyes glowing in the dark as she held the cold gun in her hand. 

"What the hell are you?!" They were the words of a dying man, a twisted sinner knowing he was damned as he tried to crawl away from her, one side of his face covered in blood as it dripped to the floor. How could a woman appearing so helpless, so beautiful be able to overpower a grown man on her own? Surely she couldn't be human, there was no way. James screamed out in pain as Adelaide dug the heel of her shoe into his back preventing him from going any further. 

"Why'd you do it, James,?" Adelaide interrogated the human man, her shoe digging deeper into his back, "What made them deserving of death?"

Was this is punishment for what he had done? He knew that hell was the only thing waiting for him now, was this woman his ticket there? There was no doubt to him now that he would die here tonight, in fact, he knew it was going to happen eventually. After all the things he had done after he had made all those innocent women suffer needlessly in their last moments, there was nothing else for him. 

"Please I'm sorry he made me do it, said it would make the kid come snooping around. It wasn't my idea." James pleaded for his life, no matter the sinner they always wanted to live always believing they deserved a second chance. Adelaide tended to pride herself on her intuition and for a man who was just pinned to the floor by a woman half his size he was crying like a baby. 

Reluctantly Adelaide stepped off the man's back, allowing him to get up, between the pain in his back and the concussion she had surely given him he struggled to do so. Before he could scurry away like the rat he was, the sound of a loading gun had him stopping in his tracks. The feeling of cold metal pressing against his temple had the Viscount fearing for his life once more.

"Catherine Kinglsey was fourteen, nothing about her warranted a need for her to die. I don't care if you were set up or did this of your own volition. Your hands were what killed those women, but before I do blow your brains out I need to know who set you up." 

She wondered for a second if she should've waited for her master to show up, along with the devil of a butler. If the plan had been followed up to this point the only reason neither we're here yet was the poor Early had to have gotten caught up in frivolous conversation with no real points except to flaunt one's wealth. Adelaide quickly dismissed any doubts whatever the reason for their absence she didn't have time to wait. If she didn't finish this now then how long until another unfortunate soul happens upon them?

Their location wasn't exactly inconspicuous if not just her getting lost in one of the many hallways in Duke Harrington's vast estate. She needed to get this done with because she was only given orders to harass one man tonight. 

"Who set you up, James?" She asked again.

"I don't know his name. I only met him once. Please I didn't want to hurt them." 

"But you did, did he ask you to rape them before you killed them? I need you to answer honestly James, did you like it?" Her voice was laced with venom, the temptation to rip the whimpering man's throat out was growing. She had only ever heard such helpless pleas coming from a child, witnessing it coming from a grown man disgusted her. It reminded her so much of the times before she had become affiliated with Ciel Phantomhive. How many men had she killed like this? Each one begging for mercy even though they both knew he deserved no such thing. Men drenched in greed that they thought themselves to be invincible until fi at someone brought them to their knees to face their ending mortality. 

"I please I didn't-" 

"Do not lie to me, James! You will die here tonight nothing you say will be able to change that. You're running out time so tell me did you like it? Being the one in control, those rich brats deserved it didn't they? Maybe you didn't want to at first but once you started you just couldn't stop, could you? When you finally got to slit their pretty little throats."

"Stop it, stop it please." James groaned as the barrel of the gun pressed harder against his head, he could barely see now as blood flooded his eyesight. 

"Did you stop? Did you stop when they begged you just like this? Who was he, James? Who created the monster that you are?"

James Timberlin was an example of humanity's greed, how desperate they were to live to the point that they would kill their own kind in cold blood just for one more day. Just like the ones who had betrayed her, the ones who had made her what she was were the reason for her search for vengeance on monsters like the man before her. 

"He dressed like a butler, I don't know what family he worked for. His eyes were yellow and he wore glasses," James began to laugh as he finally let his desperate facade melt away, "You are right though, he didn't ask me to do what I did. It was only supposed to be enough to get the kid and his dog to come sniffing around, but once I got the taste for it I just couldn't stop. Catherine was my favorite she didn't even know what I was doing. I knew it was wrong but I just kept doing-"

There was nothing more to it as the warmth of red splattered onto the world around her. Her face was flustered from rage as the body fell to the floor with a thud. She couldn't take it anymore, death was to easy of an escape for him but she couldn't stand to hear him say the truth out loud. Adelaide had to kill him she did not have any other choice. 

Adelaide did not hate men. Men who preyed on innocent women, some even children, were anything but human. It did not matter if James had been forced to do what he had done, he in return had made no attempt to stop it from happening. At some point, Timberlin had strayed from the puppeteer and begun to make his own decisions and that made him a dangerous man to be left alive. He had money if she left him alive and let him be dealt with by Scotland Yard who was to say he couldn't just buy his way out of a prison cell?

Death was to easy an escape, but surely there was someone awaiting him in hell to bring about his karma tenfold. 

Sebastian followed the direction in which they had heard the gunshot come from. As they made their way through the darkened hallways the music from the dance hall grew quieter until finally, they could no longer hear it as they came upon quiet the sight after leaving such a light-hearted gathering. The Earl and his butler found their way to a woman covered in blood and a man with a hole in his head.

"You were not given orders to kill him, but I suppose the world is better off without one more piece of filth in it," Ciel spoke up, but Adelaide made no move to turn away from the body in front of her. She appeared like a statue over the now late Viscount. Her body unmoving, her eyes unblinking the only indication that she was a living being was the tremours from the shaking gun in her hand. The only evidence of the rage building up inside her. 

Sebastian had barely even touched her as he tried to approach her when she jerked away, the gun clattering to the floor, "I need to go." Were her only parting words as she disappeared down the darkened corridor of Duke Harrington's manor.

=======Sea Foam======

Adelaide was crying in the garden. It was in no way out of guilt for what she had done. Rather she had felt quite a strong sense of satisfaction as soon as she had pulled the trigger. She had not waited for Sebastian or Ciel to catch up with her, nor had she gone inside the manor to explain what exactly it was James had said to her. 

The Earl and his butler had left the party soon after Adelaide, of course only after Sebastian had taken the time to clean up the mess the woman had left for them. She didn't want to go inside because Ciel had to be upset with her. He had given her specific instructions on how to handle the Viscount, shooting him in the head was not a part of them. Adelaide didn't even want to know what Sebastian was thinking about her now. 

He had barely spoken to her at all past what was considered was common courtesy. All of this was what had led her here. The cold stone of the garden fountain pressed against her back as she hugged her legs close to her. She wanted to appear as small as possible until hopefully, no one would be able to see her again. The beautiful dress the Earl had been kind enough to have made for her tonight now tainted by the remains of a sinner, the soft fabric now stained. There was no way she would ever be able to get the stains removed, she would have to get rid of the dress. She didn't want it anymore anyway, it wasn't pretty anymore. 

"If I didn't know any better I would assume you were human." Adelaide was startled out of her self-pity as she began wiping at her dampened face, looking up at Sebastian who was now standing over her. She hadn't even heard him coming.

"If you've come to mock me I don't want to hear it." She muttered as she picked herself off the ground. Adelaide really couldn't find herself in the mood to deal with anything that Sebastian may have found appropriate to say to her. Especially from the way she felt now, there really wouldn't be anything stopping her from punching him in the face. 

"I don't see the point in crying over the dead, it's not as though they can hear you." Sebastian shrugged, his tone was always arrogant speaking to everyone as if they were nothing more than naive children below him. 

"Who's to say I was crying over anyone? I'm a woman we get emotional. If you'd excuse me-" She had gone to step around him to take her leave, her solitude had been ruined there was no further reason to remain outside. It was Sebastian grabbing her arm preventing her from stepping any further.

"No, you are a demon who happens to be female parading around as something you are not." Sebastian glared down at her, his eyes glowing red in the dark. The only warning that Adelaide shouldn't step any further.

"Don't act like you're any better than I am. You prey on a child." She snapped back at him, "Now let go of me."

"It was my understanding that we were after the same thing." That thing being the young Earl's soul of course. Sebastian's fingers were digging into the skin of her forearm, nails turning into claws as he attempted to threaten her.

"We may be in line for the same thing, but our intentions are very different. Yet it seems you still don't seem to have grasped that concept of that yet have you?" Slowly fresh blood, her blood, dripped down her arm as she stared down the demon in front of her, "If I really must spell it out for you, you are cold and callous and the furthest thing from a good man. I need you to understand Sebastian Michaelis that I don't just hate you for what you are now I hate you for everything that you are and everything you will ever be. I hate you in such an entirety that know when the time comes for Ciel know that there will be nothing stopping me from taking what it is that I want." Adelaide was seething with anger as she ripped her arm away from Sebastian. The heels of her shoes clicking against the stone pathways of the garden, leaving the butler in the shadows he had welcomed many times before.

Sebastian didn't know why it hurt them, standing alone by the fountain watching as Adelaide disappeared inside the Manor.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations;
> 
> 1\. Your eyes are distant
> 
> as though they see something no one else sees
> 
> I had wished I could see through your eyes
> 
> your reality (Mjørkaflókar by Eivør) 
> 
> 2\. And the swells grow heavy
> 
> they all pull down into the deep


End file.
